The Truth Enslaved
by kairidreamers
Summary: Sometimes you never realize that the person you thought was so different from you could be so similar, and at the same time you never thought that something that should be easy to say could be so hard. Seto/Joey, some Bakura/Malik.  M for later chapters
1. This Love Is Gonna Burn

KD: Hello peoples! I am finally putting this account to good use. So my roomie and I started rewatching Yugioh the first series and we both adore the Seto and Joey pairing (hooray for puppyshipping) so we decided to write a story. We do our best to maintain the characters', well... character. Seriously we spend HOURS. But we still make it fun. Also with every chapter we decided to incorporate a song or two that we felt matched the chapter. We accept constructive criticism. We both have written fanfiction and we understand the joys and pains of writing.

Hmm, I think that's about it. So without further ado, we give you... babadada!

**THE TRUTH ENSLAVED**

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, we don't own Yugioh or its characters, all the rights go to its creator, Kazuki Takahashi. But no rights go to 4 kids... the bastards.

**Chapter One: This Love is Gonna Burn**

_Songs for the chapter: _

_Allister - Waiting for you_

_David Coverdale - Waiting on you _

Joey Wheeler pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open when he felt no one else was looking. Everyone in the classroom was paying attention to the teacher as she droned on about something that Joey didn't have a clue about. As the screen lit up, the dreaded words "no new messages" popped up and he felt a sudden desire to face plant on his own desk. It had been nearly two weeks. No word, no voice mail, nothing. If it hadn't been for the TV broadcast, he would have believed his elusive contact to be dead.

He glanced over his right shoulder to the middle seat in the back row. For a split second he thought he saw those piercing blue eyes that kept drawing him back in. However, those blue eyes soon turned into a confused green. Joey finally realized that the stranger in the desk had noticed him staring. He spazzed out for a brief moment, then quickly returning to his work. After a short sigh, he checked his cell phone again with no new messages in sight.

"Mr. Wheeler, could you please give your interpretation of the passage?"

"Eh… passage to where?" Joey asked as he was startled to attention by the teacher's question.

The majority of the class started laughing while the teacher looked stern. "Since you seem to have problems focusing in class, you can use your free time to write a paper interpreting last night's reading assignment," said the teacher.

Joey groaned. Great, not only was he being neglected, but now he had extra homework on the side, in literature no less. He could just imagine all the insults he would receive now; about how pathetic he was and how he needed to apply himself more.

"Hey, Joey. Earth to Joey," a voice whispered behind him. He snapped out of the insult wheel to realize that Yugi was trying to gain his attention. "Joey, you in there?" he heard again.

"Hey, sorry, Yug. Ya, I'm alright. No worries here," he said pointing at himself with a cheesy smile.

Yugi looked a little taken aback but he smiled and went back to his work. Joey's smile disappeared as he moved his head to stare out the window. When class was over and the teacher left, his friends clustered around his desk.

"Tough break there, Joey," Ryou commented.

"It serves him right for spacing out during class," Tea stated in an admonishing voice.

"Yeah man, what were you doing? I saw you looking at your phone at least five times," Tristan said sounding slightly concerned.

"I didn't even know Joey had a phone," said Tea suddenly.

"I hear they're awfully expensive," Ryou commented.

"Yeah, Joey. Where'd you get it?" Yugi asked curiously.

"I got it as a gift," Joey covered quickly. "From another friend. Yeah, that's it."

"What I wanna know is… why is it pink?" Tristan asked.

Joey flushed. The cell phone in question was indeed, a pink. Not a hot pink or a rosy pink… no… more of a bubblegum pink. "It was all they had," Joey mumbled.

"Joey, are you sure you're okay?" Tea asked seeing how weird he was acting.

"Ya, I'm fine," Joey stumbled. "I just got to take Serenity shopping. Ya! Shopping! I'll see you guys later!" He waved as he dashed out the door to confused faces.

"I thought Joey hated shopping," Tristan questioned out loud.

"Oh, you know how Joey is," Yugi said with his innocent smile. "I'm sure he's just fine."

"If you say so, Yugi. But still, I've never seen Joey act this weird before," Tristan commented thoughtfully.

"Well guys, let's go then," Yugi said, still all smiles.

"See you later, Ryou," they all waved goodbye in the doorway.

"I do wonder what's wrong with Joey," Ryou wondered as he headed home by himself. "He seems a lot more spacey than usual."

"He's in love you dolt," Bakura said inside his mind.

"Really? You think so?" Ryou thought back.

"If he was checking his phone constantly then it stands to reason he was waiting for a message from someone," Bakura stated.

"Love? Joey?" Ryou thought ponderingly as a limo drove past him.

"Let's just go," Bakura grumbled. "I don't want to be nagged for coming home late again."

* * *

When Joey got home, he ran to his room and booted up his computer. The computer was old so it was slow going. He bounced his legs impatiently, until his desktop with Red Eyes Black Dragon wallpaper popped up followed by his icons. He immediately opened his mail box, but once again was disappointed when he saw it was empty.

"Rrgh… that jerk!" Joey shouted grabbing his head in frustration. "Next time I see him, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind."

Annoyed as he was, he didn't even notice the black car that had pulled up to his house. He was leaning back in his chair staring off into space when he heard feet climbing up his stairs. Suddenly two burly men in black suits and sunglasses were standing in his doorway.

He fell off his chair in shock before the two of them could even say a word. The two men moved towards Joey, towering over him.

"How'd ya get into my house?" was all he could stammer out.

"You will come with us," the brown haired man on the right said, lifting Joey off the floor who began trying to fight them off.

"I suggest you don't struggle. The master told us to use ANY means necessary to get you. And trust me, if you resist we WILL use any means," the black haired one said, helping carry Joey outside and throwing him into the back of the black car locking the doors from the outside.

"Watch the hair, will ya?" Joey shouted as the two got into the front seats of the car. The two ignored him and drove off. Joey tried to see where he was going, but the tinted windows of the car left him in mystery. Trying to ask the drivers didn't produce any satisfying results either. When the car stopped, the two got out, opened the back-seat door and forcefully pulled Joey out and began carting him off somewhere.

"For the love of… I can walk ya know!" Joey exclaimed.

Once again they ignored him and took him to a large room lavishly decorated with a large bed in the center. The two black suits unceremoniously tossed Joey onto the bed and then left shutting the double doors behind them.

"Geh… what da heck was dat for?" Joey demanded once he had reoriented himself, but they were long gone. That's not to say he didn't get an answer, however.

"You really are clueless, aren't you, Wheeler?"

Joey looked over to see the richest man in the city, and also the biggest prick Joey had ever met, Seto Kaiba, sitting next to a window with the curtains drawn at a desk with his laptop. Today he was dressed in his business attire instead of one of his usual gravity-defying coats. "Kaiba, you mean you're the one who had those goons bring me here?" Joey asked sitting up.

"Who else would bother with you?" Seto scoffed, rising up from his desk and briskly approaching the bed. "Let's make this quick, I have a business meeting in thirty minutes."

"Make it quick? You kidnap me out of the blue after two weeks, no contact, and that's all you can say?" Seto set about unbuttoning his suit jacket while Joey continued his rant. "Why did ya even give me a phone if ya never give me a reason to use it, ya selfish jerk?"

Seto just smirked at him as if he was not listening. "Didn't you hear me, Wheeler? Now we only have 29 minutes." Joey finally snapped back to his current situation and noticed Seto towering over him. "Get on your back, Wheeler," Seto harshly said while sitting on the bed. "Or I'll make you."

Joey glared angrily and thought about refusing just to spite him, but after deliberation Joey submitted to Seto's will and laid on his back on the bed. The sheets felt like Egyptian cotton and smelled of lilac. Zoning out again, Joey suddenly felt a pleasurable pawing atop his pants. The sensation of the gentle touch made him hard and warm with passion. His cheeks flushed slightly, making Seto have a brief evil grin. The young CEO climbed on top of Joey, straddling him. His face slowly moved closer to Joey's, distracting the blonde teen from the hand moving over and under his shirt. Joey made a slight moan of pleasure -his body had missed being touched by the cold fingers that made him shiver uncontrollably- which brought an even wider smirk to Seto's face.

"Sit up a bit, Wheeler," Seto ordered and Joey hopelessly obeyed as his mind gave itself over to the building state of ecstasy. Seto pulled off Joey's jacket and shirt quickly, admiring the slender body beneath him. He slithered down a bit and Joey felt a light, feathery tongue moving down his chest and abdomen, stopping at his waistband. All the while, Seto's hand moved over Joey's bulge, which was beginning to make his usually loose pants uncomfortable, in a teasing manner.

"You really want it, don't you, Wheeler?" Seto said with husky laughter while his fingertips lightly played with Joey's belt.

His pants pulsed again at this and Seto began a light laugh, easily sliding the belt out of its loops and discarding it onto the floor.

"Kaiba, you narcissistic ass," was all Joey could moan out as Seto's hand reached into his warmth, fondling it ever so lightly. But when Kaiba heard the derogatory term, he gripped him tightly, forcing Joey to let out a pained but elated yelp. Seto smiled in satisfaction before pulling his hand out and beginning to unbutton the pants.

BEEP! BEEP!

Joey jerked at the unexpected noise, not understanding what was happening or even what the source was. Seto calmly pulled out a pager from his pocket and looked at it. Without a word he got off the bed, put his jacket back on and left the room leaving Joey in an ever-more wanting state of pleasure and confusion.

* * *

KD: Oh, wowie! It's Yaoi! Really bad joke, lol. Well, that was kinda mean Seto, but we still love you. You and your helicopter. If he was real I'd steal his coat, and then my roomie Jael would steal him. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the first installment, and look forward to the next.


	2. Welcoming Domination

KD: Yay! Second installment! Woot! We'd like to give a special thanks to our friend Meredith for being an awesome beta. And now, we present…

**Chapter Two: Welcoming Domination**

_Chapter Songs:_

_Perfect Enemy- TATU_

_Enemy- Sevendust_

The euphoria draining from Joey's body felt worse than a bad hangover. The warmth that had enflamed him was quick to follow, leaving him feeling strangely cold in the perfectly temperate room. Joey slowly sat up, his body feeling heavy and lethargic. Getting his head back together, he realized then the state he was in and quickly put his clothes back on, as if to cover up the near unbearable shame he felt. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he buried his face in his hands.

"Man… what the heck am I doing?" A few months ago, Joey wouldn't even want to be within twenty miles of Kaiba, let alone in this messed up situation. "All I wanted to do was make a little money…"

* * *

A few months prior….

"Of all the places I could have gotten a callback for a job interview," Joey bemoaned as he stood in front of Kaiba Corp. Joey had spent half the summer searching for a job. Every place had turned him down except, much to his eternal befuddlement, his application for Kaiba Land.

"I must be all kinds of desperate," he thought aloud.

He remembered the words of encouragement from his friends:

"Swallow your pride and be a man, you can tough it out until you find something else," said Tristan.

"It's not like you'd have to see Kaiba while working there," Tea pointed out.

"Chin up, Joey," Bakura said. "Just make some lemonade from the situation."

"I know you'll do great," said Yugi. "Once they see you they'll be begging you to take the job."

After releasing a deep breath, Joey stepped into the Kaiba Corp. main office. A plethora of beautiful women were answering phone calls, typing on their computers, and gossiping about Seto. (1) Joey headed over to one of the available girls.

"Um, I have an interview for a job at Kaiba land," Joey exhaled. "The name's Wheeler. Joey Wheeler."

The young woman smiled at him. "One moment please." Joey looked around the office while the receptionist made her calls. "Take the elevator to the top floor and someone will be there to meet you," she said after hanging up the phone and pointing to the direction of the elevator.

"Thanks," said Joey lifting his hand in a wave. He stepped into the elevator, where a woman dressed in a Kaiba Corp. uniform was standing next to the buttons.

"What floor are you heading to?" the woman asked sweetly.

Joey was taken aback. "The top floor," he finally spouted out. The woman smiled and pressed the button. _"That cocky ass is the only one who would have someone controlling the elevator,"_ Joey thought to himself. _"But I better listen to my friends and suck it up. A job is a job and I doubt I'll even see Kaiba…"_ The thought trailed off as the elevator doors opened to an office. Seto Kaiba sat at the lone desk in the room.

"Hello, Wheeler," Seto said with the trademark smirk Joey had learned to loathe.

_"Damn, I'm officially screwed__."_

"Hello, Kaiba," Joey said in a forcibly polite voice while stepping into the office. The elevator doors shut closed behind him and he heard the elevator leave.

"That's 'Mr. Kaiba'," Seto snapped back.

Joey was agitated by the comment but he kept his composure. "Keep it together, Joey. You need this," he whispered to himself.

"Sit down, Wheeler," Kaiba ordered, pointing to the chair in front of his desk. Joey hesitantly did so. "Well, Wheeler. Frankly, I was surprised to see your name on the application list." Seto took a momentary pause before continuing. "So I felt I should do this interview personally." He put emphasis on the word 'personally' and Joey had no doubts Kaiba was just taking this opportunity to humiliate him. "So, Wheeler, what was going through that minuscule mind of yours to want to apply at my company? And don't say it's because you actually wanted to work here."

Joey's teeth ground together in anger but he gripped his knees with his hands and calmed himself. "Not that it matters to you… but I wanted to start earning money so that I could get my own place… and then maybe I'd get to see my little sister more often. I applied for every job this city had to offer but…" he trailed off.

"But clearly heartfelt intentions didn't fill in for the lack of competence," Seto finished for him. Joey opened his mouth to say a snappy comment back but thought twice and quickly shut it. Seto rolled his eyes. "Fine, Wheeler, you have the job."

"EH!" Joey exclaimed in utter surprise. He thought he might have heard wrong. "Seriously? No joke?"

"No joke," Seto reiterated, before grinning evilly. "But I'm going to need your measurements."

"Wah!" Joey exclaimed almost falling out of his chair. Now he KNEW he had heard wrong.

"You heard me, Wheeler. Give me your measurements, or I'll take them for you," he said leaning over the desk.

Joey's face turned red. "What could you possibly need those for?"

Seto's eyes glistened with contempt. "For your job, idiot," Seto coolly said. "I need your measurements to get the costumes tailored for your size."

"COSTUMES?" Joey asked standing up in shock.

"Yes, Wheeler, your job will be acting as the costume characters at Kaiba Land. Even a useless guy like you should be able to do something like that. Especially since you're not allowed to talk," Seto's smirk grew even wider with the thought of Joey doing such work. "So, Wheeler, do you still want the job?"

Joey could feel his insides boiling and his face heating in anger. He wanted nothing more than to use his fist to wipe the smug look off Kaiba's face. Then he reminded himself, the work might suck, but the pay was still pretty decent. If he could just bear with it, however long it took, then in the end it just might be worth it.

"Yeah, I'll take it," Joey said with unwavering resolve.

"Hmph, then let's get started, shall we?" Seto reached into his desk and pulled out some measuring tape. "I'll need you to take your shirt off."

"H-huh?" Joey stuttered. "Why are YOU taking the measurements? Can't you get someone else to do it?"

"Consider this your aptitude test, Wheeler," Kaiba said with obvious derision. "Your job involves interacting with a countless number of people, and not all of them are as charming as I am. I don't need a hot-headed employee flying off the handle at every little provocation."

Joey turned red with anger. "Fine, Kaiba, bring on your aptitude test," Joey said taking off his green coat.

Kaiba shook his head in dissatisfaction. "More than your jacket needs to be off, Wheeler," Kaiba said dangling the tape measure from his delicate hands.

Joey started to blush at the idea of undressing in front of Seto. "No way, Kaiba, I'm not stripping in front of you."

"I never pictured you as the modest type," Kaiba mocked, watching Joey's fists and teeth clench. "Strip, Wheeler, or no job."

Joey let out a chain of grumbles but once more reminded himself why he came here in the first place. He unbuttoned his shirt and reluctantly slid it off his shoulders before dropping the shirt onto the floor. Seto was professional when it came to the measurements, but that did nothing to make Joey feel any more comfortable. He knew what he had to do, though, and thus he followed Seto's instructions, allowing him to measure his arms, back, and torso. Just when he thought the torture was nearly over, things took a turn for the worse.

"Pants, Wheeler," Seto said sternly.

"Now that's going too far, Kaiba," Joey protested. "Why do you need my pants down?"

Seto grinned and shook his head, astounded at Joey's lack of simple understanding. "I need to measure your stride, Wheeler, and your pants will get in the way of a proper measurement."

Joey gulped, but undid his belt, button and zipper, allowing his pants to pool around his ankles and displaying his black boxers decorated with little red-eyes black dragons. Joey's face was flushed red thinking about how he was half naked in front of his least favorite person. He expected Seto to make a snide comment about his undergarments, but Seto looked as if he had expected nothing less, which somehow made it seem worse.

Seto got on his knees and started to take the measurement, wrapping the measuring tape under and around the stride area. "Don't get too excited, Wheeler," Seto said in a laughing voice.

"Like I would!" Joey snapped in irritation, but for some reason the comment caused his stomach to do a turnover, only… not in revulsion like he would have expected.

Kaiba merely smirked in amusement and completed the measurement. Once he was done he straightened up and went to his desk where he began jotting things down on a notepad. "We're done. You can get out now. You'll be expected to start work next week. One slip up and you're gone. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Joey said sarcastically as he redressed himself.

"I mean it, Wheeler. One slip-up," Seto warned.

Joey rolled his eyes, put his jacket back on and left the office. Once he was outside of Kaiba Corp, Joey let out a big sigh of both relief and dread. "What have you gotten yourself into, Joey Wheeler? Stupid, stupid," he said hitting his head against his hands.

* * *

KD: I hope in the beginning you weren't thinking we were referring to prostitution. We're not THAT mean (*cough*cliché*cough*). Hehe, so how does our young Joey do on his first day of work? Find out next time! Ja ne. ;)

(1) For those of you who don't believe this is plausible, watch the beginning of Duelist Kingdom. We seriously believe Seto kidnapped just about every female in the city and got them to work for him. That's why you rarely ever see females in the show. :P


	3. Tough It Out, Watapon!

KD: So just to avoid confusion ,we are still in the past right now, working to the present, aka chapter one. We were going to flash back and forth, but then we realized that would just be confusing. So there ya go. Enjoy the chapter. :)

**Chapter Three: Tough It Out, Watapon!**

_Songs for chapter:_

_I will survive- Stephanie Bentley_

_I get knocked down- Smashmouth_

It was the day after the interview, and Joey was dreading going to school. He knew he friends would ask how he did on getting the job and when he would start. Joey didn't know what to tell them. It was too embarrassing to tell them that he would be dressing up as a costume character. He remembered the measurements that Seto took and he started to turn red with anger.

"Morning Joey. What's up?" Yugi's perky voice caused Joey to snap out of his thoughts.

"Morning Yug." Joey said back quickly. _'Please don't ask 'bout the interview. Please don't ask 'bout the interview__,'_ Joey chanted in his head.

He thought his plan had worked, until, "Hey, Joey how did the job interview go?" Tea said exactly what he didn't want to talk about.

_'Why Tea? Why did you have to ask first thing in the morning?__'_ he kept to himself. "It went great. Got the job of course. After all, how could someone say 'no' to me?" Joey pointed to himself with a false grin.

"That's great man," Tristan started. "What are you doing?"

Joey's froze for a few seconds, he already decided that he was not going to tell his friends that he will be wearing costumes, but as usual didn't think far enough ahead to come up with a fake job for his friends. "Um…I'm…um…..dealing with kids." Joey stammered without thinking.

"That's perfect for you Joey!" Yugi exclaimed excitedly. "You're great with kids." Yugi's smile just made Joey feel worse for not telling the whole truth.

"Yeah, he acts so much like one he'll fit right in with them," Tristan joked.

"Hey, take that back, wise guy," said Joey turning to face him.

"Make me."

"So when do you start work, Joey?" Tea asked distracting the two from their minor squabble.

"First thing next week," Joey told him.

"Hey, maybe we'll come visit you while you're at work," Yugi suggested happily.

"You really don't have to," Joey said, while praying they didn't follow through with that plan.

Tristan checked his wristwatch. "We better hurry, guys. Class is gonna start soon."

They all nodded and headed to their homeroom. Joey felt very thankful that he didn't have to answer any more questions AND that Kaiba had moved out of their homeroom to a higher leveled class. Everyone was surprised that Kaiba hadn't switched classes sooner. He was the smartest student in that class even though he was gone almost every day. After all, Seto had more pressing matters to deal with than going to school.

* * *

*one week later*

After school was out, Joey bid a quick farewell to his friends before heading over to Kaiba Land, which already was booming with business. Kids of all ages were running around trying to accomplish as much as they could before the park closed or they had to return home. Joey went to the information desk, letting the person there know that he was there to begin his job.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Wheeler. What you'll want to do is go to the theatre area," the woman said pulling out what looked like an employee pass and handing it to him along with a map of the park. "Just go around back of the largest building and use this to get in. There will be a locker room. You'll have your own personal locker and your costume for today should be ready and waiting for you. Do you have any questions?"

"Nah, I think I got it," Joey said taking the pass and smiling in thanks.

Joey followed the woman's directions and found where he needed to be. As she had said, he had been given his own locker, plated with his name, Joseph Wheeler. He had to admit, that was pretty neat.. There was plenty of space in it to put his bag as well as his uniform in it. Now all he needed was to find his outfit. He looked around the room and spotted something lying on one of the changing benches with a paper pinned to it. On the paper was his name, but a feeling of foreboding rose within him the moment he spotted the thing. Hoping he was wrong, he went to the bench and picked up the costume, unfolding it and holding it up. The sense of mortification had never struck harder as he stared at a duel monster he recognized; Watapon.

"Wah… are they serious?" Joey said picking up the fuzzy pink costume. He was hesitant to put it on, but swallowed his pride, because that's all it seemed he would get to eat on this job, and got dressed into the costume. His legs fit in the stubby slots perfectly, but it was odd for him to have no hands.

He heard the door open to the room, and a young female employee stepped it. "Watapon are you dressed yet?" She walked deeper into the room, "I found you Watapon." She sang glomping it, causing Joey to fall over.

"Who is this woman, and why is she so crazy?" Joey thought to himself. He picked himself up off the floor by rolling back and using all his force to pull forward. "Who are you?" Joey finally asked confused why this crazy woman was in the room. Her face was small and childish-looking with freckles. She had shoulder length strawberry blonde pigtails tied with ribbons and bright hazel eyes round with enthusiasm.

"I'm Kit!" She said with a wide smile, "I'm here to take you to where you will stand and make sure all the kids stay in order!" She flashed a victory sign, "And if I'm enough to knock you over, you will have an even harder time with the kids. They can be brutal…Well, let's go then." Joey was thankful that she could not see his face because he was already overwhelmed with her peppy attitude.

"Seto assigned her ta me on purpose. That pompous jerk," Joey, thought. "I didn't think anyone could be perkier than Tea." He followed Kit to his post near one of the maps that showed where everything in the park was. He noticed a small sign that said:

'See Watapon Here

9:15, 11:15, 1:15, 3:15 '

Kit moved the sign out of the way, putting up standards so the lines would form in an organized manner. "Alright, Watapon, let's have an awesome day!" The kids started coming, and Joey never realized how hard it was to not talk in his life. It had only been 15 minutes and 4 kids had cried when he was with them and 2 had kicked him. Most of the kids were cute, truthfully, giving him hugs- mainly the little girls, though.

The worst part of the job was the unbearable heat. The costume was insulated, and it felt as if he was stuck in an inescapable furnace. His shirt was sticking to his sweaty body and it was difficult to maintain any sort of enthusiasm. Several times he lost his balance, the worst scenario being when he had fallen on his back and ended up being tackled by half a dozen kids. Kit managed to save him before they managed to do too much damage to him or the costume. Regardless, he kept up his vigor for the children's sake. By the end of the day, he was finally able to get out of the outfit and breathe again.

"Free at last!" he cheered.

"You did great today," Kit told him. "And don't worry, you won't be playing Watapon every day. We try to incorporate as much variety as possible since children have so many favorites. Tomorrow should be a little easier."

"Really?" Joey asked. "Who am I playing tomorrow?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Kit said, shaking her head and wagging her finger. "That's a surprise. So I'll see you tomorrow, then." She gave a small wave before skipping out of the room.

"Well, I suppose anything is better than that," Joey thought, giving the pink, fuzzy costume a reproachful glance before getting his stuff together and leaving the building.

* * *

In his office, Seto was watching his computer screen with an amused smile. He had one of his technicians stream the security videos from Kaiba Land to his office computer so that he would be able to personally witness his new 'employee's' progress. "Wheeler did better than I thought." Seto gently placed his chin on top of his folded hands. "I'm surprised how he was able to handle himself. Maybe he is not completely useless after all."

There was a light knock on Seto's door, "Come in."

The door opened and Mokuba was there. "I heard from Kit that Joey did great on his first day at work." Mokuba was smiling wide. "He didn't even complain about the costume once and most of the kids really seemed to love him."

Seto was nodding lightly while sipping his coffee. "Let's see if he can keep up this performance."

* * *

Joey got home from work and plopped backwards in his bed. "That was surprisingly easier than I thought. But those kids can kick." Joey lightly rubbed his shins in remembrance of the original pain. "But at least no one sees my face to know it was me, especially Kaiba. That jerk would get just a kick out of it."

The doorbell rang, causing Joey to jolt up. He looked around the living room before opening the door. Tristan was standing there, his motorcycle helmet in tow. "Hey man came to check up on ya." Tristan hopped into the apartment while taking his shoes off. The two boys went to Joey's room, closing the door behind him, "I won't be long, just wanted to see how you were holding up."

Joey was happy that his friend cared enough about him to come over, but at the same time was nervous, he really didn't want Tristan finding too much stuff out. "Thanks, Tristan. I'm doing okay. A little exhausted from the first day, but it ain't nothing Joey Wheeler can't handle."

"Well you certainly look exhausted," Tristan said digging into his bag and pulling out a paper bag that smelled of fast food. "I figured this might happen so I brought you a little something."

"Hey, thanks," Joey said accepting the bag and opening it to see a burger and fries. "Alright! Take out from Burger Land. My day has officially been made. You da man, Tristan."

Tristan gave him a friendly slap on the back. "Sure thing, dude. What are friends for?"

Joey grinned. As long as he had his friends to help him, he could get through this, no problem.

* * *

KD: Yay, first day at work. We were kinda mean putting Joey in Watapon the first day, but we thought it'd be fun. Btw, we didn't realize this until later, but Kit is pretty much us two co-writers merged together into one psychotic being, meaning Seto better steer clear. :P Hoped you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next. :D


	4. Saying Too Much

KD: Yay, new chapter. Sorry it took us a while. We wanted to get it out sooner but you know how life is. By the way, if Malik seems OOC that's because they didn't portray him enough after he turned good. That's the horridness of friendship. It destroys awesome characters like Malik and Duke. Thank goodness we still have characters like Seto and Bakura ^_^

Now on with the story! Heil Kaiba!

**Chapter Four: Saying Too Much**

_Songs for the chapter:_

_Losing My Religion- REM_

_Bad Day- Daniel Powter_

The next few days came a little bit easier, as Joey was able to dress up as humanoid duel monster characters instead of furry full-body suits. Some of them were actually not as humiliating, almost fun. Today, however, was a different story.

"GAH!" Joey said looking at the new costume near his work locker. There was a white wig that looked just as long as him. The bright red mask had foot long horns connected to it. "What's this?" Joey picked up the wig in one hand and the mask in the other. "Which Monster is this?"

Kit walked into the room, "It's the Ninja Master Shogun." In the past few days, Joey had gotten used to her inhuman enthusiasm. "I thought you might need help getting this costume on. It's a very elaborate and expensive one. Mr. Kaiba said the wig alone cost over $1000, so it's best we take extra care with it."

Joey's face dropped. If just the wig alone was that expensive, he didn't want to know how much the costume as a whole was. How much had the other, 'cheap' ones he'd worn been worth? "Uh, thanks Kit. No pressure now, right?" She smiled sweetly at him and nodded with her usual enthusiasm. As soon was Joey got the purple under layer on himself, Kit helped him buckle up the bright red armor. The armor felt like it easily weighed 50 pounds. As Kit strapped the flags to his back, he felt as if he was falling over, but Kit buckled down to keep him standing up.

"Just the mask and wig now, Joey." She said, grabbing a white cap to put Joey's mess of a hair in so no golden blond strand would shine through the wig. As the mask went on, Joey could barely see out of the black slits for his eyes. Finally the wig was placed on his head, and it was itchier than Joey would imagine. He went to go scratch his head, but Kit lightly slapped his hand away. "Don't mess with the wig, Joey. I finally got it on perfectly." Joey tried to look at himself in the mirror, but he couldn't see a thing.

Kit led Joey to one of the stadiums to stand in front of. While he was walking he thought he heard some crying, but since he couldn't see a thing, he didn't know it was little kids seeing the mask and panicking because of it.

* * *

Seto hung up his phone with an aggravated sigh. One of the stadiums in Kaiba land was malfunctioning and the engineers didn't understand what was causing the glitch so, of course, he had to deal with it himself. "What's the point of having employees if they are not competent enough to even fix something as simple and a projection issue?"

Seto soon arrived at Kaiba Land, and went straight to work. As he was heading over to the arena, he noticed a little girl crying, overhearing her say something about a scary red devil mask. Seto instantly knew what she was talking about.

He shook his head. He didn't have time to be checking on that loser. Not when there were repairs to be made. Everything needed to be kept perfect and in proper working order, because it was his company. As long as he was around, there would be no room for mistakes.

* * *

"Okay, this costume is definitely going on my list of least favorites," Joey thought as he welcomed the third mob of kids that day. The costume was once again uncomfortably hot and, worse, itchy, but every time he tried to relieve the irritation, Kit would smack his hands like he was a disobedient puppy.

It was finally time for a break, so he was led back to the break room with Kit's help. He tried to catch a bit of his surroundings each time to get a better idea of where he was walking. There were vendors on each corner selling cards, beverages, food and Kaiba Corp themed souvenirs. There were benches, and high raised stands near every area, along with several ceiling lights, there were bulky lamp posts every few feet to add extra lighting for the lower areas of the park.

"Is that the guy that scared you, sis?" An early teenage boy shouted in Joey's direction. Joey stopped to turn around to see what was going on; he wasn't about to let a fight break out around him and not try to stop it. While attempting to turning around, Joey heard a cracking sound when he felt his shoulder hit something, but couldn't tell where it had come from. Joey decided to keep walking, not letting it bother him, "Eh I'm sure it was nothin'. Gotta see where that fight is going down and stop it."

The boy, noticing that Joey didn't realize he was talking to him, stealthily snuck up behind Joey and stepped hard on the flowing white wig. Joey, ignorant to his surrounding, kept walking and until he felt the wig being jerked off his head.

"That's for scaring my sister you costume-wearing jerk." Joey turned around, trying to follow the voice, but still could not see out of the mask. The harsh yanking of the wig caused some bobby pins to cut at the mask's straps, slowly breaking them.

_"That snot__-nosed brat__! If I wasn't blinded by this mask__, I would beat the snot outta him."_ Joey thought, looking around for the kid, but the boy had already run off before Joey could spot him.

Kit after several minutes finally realized that Joey was no longer following her, backtracking she saw Joey, wig on floor and the right shoulder of the armor dented, she gasped at the sight of the mess, "Joey what happened?" she said running towards him.

Right as he approached him, the bright red mask's straps finally broke completely, falling onto the ground, horns breaking on impact. Right was is hit the ground and bounced a few feet from impact, a little girl not paying attention ran over it, causing the mask to break into several pieced.

"Oh, I am so screwed. Kaiba is going to kill me when he finds out." Joey was freaking out in his head. "Well, at least the pants aren't ruined."

No sooner had he thought this than someone came around the corner and ran into him, spilling their tray of cheese-covered nachos and soda all over him.

"Oh no! This stuff'll never come out!" he thought despairingly, staring down at himself. He didn't even notice the person yelling at him for standing around like an idiot.

"Sir, please calm down," Kit said, trying to quell the older man's anger, but he simply shoved her over, which finally woke Joey up.

"Hey, that's going way too far," Joey said, glaring at the guy. "Now apologize to her."

The guy grabbed Joey by the best handhold he could get, which was one of Joey's shoulder buckles. "What did you say, you punk?"

Joey wanted to punch the guy; he came dangerously close. Thankfully, he remembered where he was, and that punching a park guest was a one-way ticket to unemployment. He knew that well enough from past experience. By this time a crowd gathered, but, of course, no one stepped in to help. Instead they were egging the two men on, hoping for a fight. Joey was very familiar with this scenario, as well.

"Eek! Someone please help!" Kit screamed in a high-pitched voice that Joey was sure could pierce both heaven and hell if they existed. Everyone around who hadn't already stopped to watch definitely was now.

"Look, pal, let's just forget this ever happened," said Joey, trying to be the keeper of the peace.

"You think I'm gonna forgive you for causing me to spill my meal and then smarting off to me?" the man asked heatedly.

"That is enough," interrupted a very angry and authoritative voice. The crowd parted as Seto walked in on the scene with several guards at his side. "My security must be going lax if they let trash like you into my park," Seto observed before barking orders to his men. "Get him out of here."

They replied with a quick 'yessir' and dragged the ill-tempered man off of Joey and hauled him off kicking and screaming.

"If the rest of you wish to continue your day here at Kaiba Land, then I suggest you move along," Seto announced to the crowd which quickly dispersed like a cloud of flies. At last, Seto was able to turn his attention the employee standing in what was left of a very expensive outfit.

Joey nearly flinched when he saw the expression of anger and disgust on Seto's face. "Come with me, Wheeler." Seto's voice rang with an ire he had never heard before. Hesitantly, Joey followed the CEO to a room full of computers and projector parts on shelves. The walk to the room felt like hours to Joey.

"So, Wheeler, I see you managed to make a mess of things, and only in the first week."

"Look, Kaiba, I can explain," Joey started.

"That's Mr. Kaiba," he harshly reminded. "And there's no explanation needed, not when you're wearing it. I don't suppose the assistant I assigned you informed you of how much money was invested in that outfit."

"Yeah… she did," said Joey gloomily.

"Not only did you destroy a perfectly good costume, you also started a riot, in MY game park. Do you think I want the press to think that Kaiba Land is another place where a brawl can break out at anytime involving MY own employees?"

"It was an accident," Joey said in his defense.

"Accident or not, Wheeler, it's your problem now," Seto barked back at him. "If I hadn't already invested so much good money into your position I would fire you this instant. However, firing you doesn't seem like a fitting enough punishment, and I don't feel like spending weeks going through another tiresome application process. So from now on, half of your paycheck will be going to the damages you caused."

Joey's cheeks were flushed with anger, causing him to snap back. "Ya know what, Mr. Kaiba," he started in a mocking tone, "you expect perfection from everyone 'round ya, but you yourself are far from perfect. Your life is totally messed up, just you and your brother living alone together surrounded by servants. And what 'bout that rumor about your father killing himself and somehow YOU ended up with the corporation. Not really a shining mark on your wonderful reputation. You're far from perfect, so stop demanding perfection for everyone else." Joey felt relieved about getting all that off his chest, but that moment passed as soon as it came and Joey's face turned white.

Much to his surprise, Seto had no witty comeback or insult for him. Instead he had a glare that would have made any weaker man faint in terror. "Don't think for a minute, Wheeler, that you know anything about me or Mokuba." Seto walked out of the room, slamming the door harshly behind him, leaving Joey alone in a state of shock.

* * *

"I swear, this is the last time I take him anywhere," Bakura thought irritably as he wandered around Kaiba Land in search for his runaway. "I look away for two seconds and suddenly he's gone. I should just leave him here."

He paused in his hunt when he heard the commotion and a girl screaming for help. He glanced over and immediately saw the source of the scream. A crowd was gathered around a pair of men, one of them dressed in what appeared to be a bad cosplay outfit. Bakura recognized him as one of his vessel's friends from school. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to stand by and watch. Perhaps the idiots would start throwing punches; heck if he was lucky, blood might be drawn. He was disappointed when none other than the owner of the park, Seto Kaiba, paraded in and broke up the conflict as well as the crowd around it.

Bakura watched with piqued interest as the one named Joey was ridiculed. Bakura, being one for immaculate details, noticed several things about the pair. "Could they be…? No, not quite." One was still completely oblivious, no surprises there. The other simply didn't know how to convey it. Bakura scowled. "I really must not have anything better to do if I'm wasting my time considering this." Still, on the bright side, if something were to develop, it could certainly be a source of amusement for him.

Suddenly he felt a tugging on his jacket sleeve. Looked like his runaway had found him. "Bakura, look, I got us some cotton candy," a tanned youth with too much eyeliner said happily, holding two wads of spun sugar on paper cones and offering him one.

Bakura gave it a look of distaste. He must have told the tomb keeper over a thousand times that he didn't like crap like that. But apparently that wasn't enough to have it sink in. "I've already told you, Malik, I don't like cotton candy."

"But it's so much fun to eat," Malik said taking a piece off of one and sticking it into his mouth. "It starts off as cotton and then it vanishes on your tongue."

"If you like it so much then eat them both," Bakura said before stalking off.

Malik gave him a displeased pout and followed him. "Fine, more for me."

* * *

KD: Nyaw, they're so cute. Hooray for thiefshipping. Poor Joey, how will this occurence affect his life in the future? More importantly, why am I the author asking you the readers about such an important plot device? Stay tuned!


	5. Something to Cry About

KD: A quick belated happy birthday to our dear Seto Kaiba. We wanted to post it on his actual b-day, Oct. 25 i.e. two yesterdays ago, but the betaing process is a strenuous one. Anyway, with that said, let's dive in!

**Chapter Five: Something to Cry About**

_Songs for the chapter:_

_Prey- Ten Years_

_All About You- Hoobastank_

The schools bells started to ring signaling the beginning of lunch. It was a relief to Joey since he was zoning out in class again, thanks to Seto Kaiba. Everyone in the classroom started to move their desks around in their usual spots for lunch, but Joey didn't, instead getting ready to leave the class room.

"Where are you going, Joey?" Yugi asked, following him to the door.

"Just need some fresh air is all, Yug." Joey replied, forcing a wide grin across his face. "You guys have lunch without me. I'll be fine." Joey started waving his right hand up and down.

"Are you sure man?" Tristan chimed, in looking concerned. Joey never turned down a meal.

"Ya, I'm sure, I'll see ya after lunch." Joey said, shutting the classroom door behind him.

"Joey not eating, something has to be wrong." Tristan finally said a few minutes after Joey left. "He has been acting so strange lately. I'm worried guys."

"Let's just let Joey be. When he's ready to talk, he's ready to talk." Ryou added, also getting up to leave.

"Now where are you going?" Tristan sighed.

"Just the loo, is all," he said quickly with an angelic smile, but as soon as he left, Bakura was out to play.

Joey walked around outside, kicking some rocked with his shoes. He saw a tree off to the side of the school and decided to sit under it. He crossed his arms over his head and leaned back against the bark of the tree.

Seto was walking down the hall of the second story of the school when he noticed Joey out of the corner of his eye. The blonde was sitting all alone under a tree. A slight grin appeared on his face. Seto walked outside, moving nonchalantly towards the tree Joey was under. He sat down on the opposite side of the trunk and started clacking away at his laptop. Seto usually sat under this tree when he showed up to school, and it was uncommon for him to have company like today.

Joey however, didn't know of Seto's lunch break tradition. "Can't you leave me alone for 5 minutes, Kaiba?" Joey huffed. Kaiba ignored him, still typing away at his computer, causing Joey to get angry. "Answer me you jerk." He got up and moved to the side of the tree Kaiba was on.

"No wonder you have so many issues, pup," Seto said mockingly, "Abandoned by your mother to an alcoholic father, your sister getting the happy life, while you dealt with gambling debts." A smirk rose on Seto's face. "You say I have family issues, but look at yourself; you are unwanted, a burden to you mother, and an excuse for your father's issues." Seto mentally slapped Joey in the face with that, and was about to pay the price for it. What made it even worse for Joey was when Seto turned his laptop around so Joey could see his family's background check on screen.

"That does it!" Joey rushed forward, tackling Kaiba and sending the two of them sprawling to the ground. Joey sat up on top of the CEO and grabbed two fistfuls of his jacket. "You can say whatever the hell you want about me, but don't you EVER make a crack about my family again, you got that?"

Kaiba did not look at all phased by Joey's aggression; rather, he just looked annoyed and before Joey even knew what was happening somehow he was face down in the grass with Kaiba on top, one had on the back of his head while the other had one of Joey's arms twisted behind his back. "Don't get cocky, mutt. I have more than half a mind to have you arrested for assault."

Kaiba paused when he noticed something. As Joey struggled to turn his neck so that he wasn't having his face ground into the earth, Kaiba saw that a tear had built up in the punk's eye and was now on the brink of escaping. "Really, Wheeler? That's all it takes to get you crying like a two-year old?"

Joey instinctively froze up as he felt Kaiba's breath tickle the side of his face.

"Just wait until later," he heard Kaiba rumble in his ear. "I'll give you something to really cry about."

Joey was so baffled by these words he didn't realize that Kaiba had gotten off of him until he saw his well dressed feet walking away.

* * *

Later after school, Joey almost completely forgotten Seto's words of forewarning; that was, until someone unexpected paid him a visit.

"Hey, Joey!"

"Oh, hey, Mokuba, what's shakin?" Joey asked. He was currently on break from his job and was relaxing on one of the park benches with a soda.

Mokuba wore a serious expression. "Did you do something to upset Seto?"

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Joey asked trying to sound innocent.

"Well, he wanted me to personally tell you to go see him in his office after you're done with work," said Mokuba. "Usually the only time he EVER invites someone to his office is if he's making important face-to-face negotiations or to fire someone in the worst, most humiliating way possible. The last guy he did that to became a social recluse and won't even leave his home."

Joey started to feel really uneasy and he imagined a scary Seto Kaiba with a blue eyes white dragon looming behind him. "Crap… did I really piss him off that much? Man, me and my temper. But the jerk deserved it… saying stuff like that about my family… he had no right, I don't care who he is. Alright, if I'm gonna get fired I'm at least gonna do it with my head held high." Out loud, he said to Mokuba, "I won't forget… thanks."

Mokuba nodded and gave Joey an almost apologetic wave before running off.

* * *

Just a few short hours later…

"Mr. Wheeler? Mr. Kaiba will see you now," said the secretary in her friendly voice.

Joey took a deep bracing breath as he rose from the chair he had been waiting in and walked over to the panel doors that led into the CEO's office. They slid open, allowing him entrance and he stepped inside. Once he had, the doors slid shut behind him. Seto was busy typing something on his computer. Joey stood, waiting for him to be finished. When several minutes passed, Joey got impatient and cleared his throat very loudly and deliberately. Seto didn't even glance up. Another couple minutes passed and Joey was prepared to just walk out. He had even turned around towards the door when Kaiba finally spoke.

"Have a seat, Wheeler."

Joey turned back to the brunette, looking defiant. "I'll stand, thanks."

"Do you know why you're here?" Kaiba asked.

"Haven't a clue," Joey lied.

"I didn't figure you would, with that dense skull of yours," Seto said, organizing some papers.

Joey clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "If you're gonna reconsider firing me then just do it already."

"You almost sound like you want me to fire you," Seto noted. "But really, who do you think you are, barking orders at your employer?"

"Of course I don't wanna get fired," Joey stated in anger. "But at the same time it seems like it'd be more than worth it not having to work under a friendless jerk that spends all of his free time stroking his own ego."

At last, something flickered in those cold blue eyes and Seto actually stood up from his desk and slowly strode over to where Joey stood. Joey was a little bit intimidated by the proximity as well as the fact that Seto was a full head taller than him. But Joey held his ground and tried not to look shaken.

"It looks like the only way to train a dog is to teach it proper respect first." Seto was loosening his tie while saying this.

"Huh? What that heck is that s'posed to mean?" Joey asked, not understanding the point of any of this. Not understanding why he was feeling so… awkward beneath those steel blue orbs.

Suddenly he felt Kaiba grab him by the wrist and with surprise strength begin to drag him over to the window behind his desk that overlooked Domino City.

"Hey, what gives?" Joey demanded, trying to free his arm but to no avail.

Seto didn't answer him but instead tossed him towards the window. Joey's hands flew out to cushion the impact and he was about to turn around and start fighting back, when suddenly he felt long, sinewy arms wrap themselves around him from behind.

"Wh-what the hell?" Joey mumbled out loud. "What's this about, Kaiba?"

"You've forgotten already?" Kaiba asked, his breath hitting Joey's neck, laughter apparent in his voice. "Let's see if I can't jog your memory."

"What? I don't…" Joey tense as he felt one of Seto's hand begin to reach beneath his shirt, the cool fingers causing him to shiver slightly as they lightly brushed his skin.

"What is this?" Joey nearly yelled, trying to fight Kaiba off, but the other man was strong despite his lithe build. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

"Are you going to scream for help?" Seto asked tauntingly. "Go ahead, I dare you." He ran his fingers up Joey's stomach and over the contours of his chest. Joey actually jerked when Seto ran his hands over one of Joey's nipples.

"Get… get the hell…. offa me, ya creep," Joey gritted out. But it was obvious that his muscles were slowly turning to jelly. His face was deeply flushed and he had his eyes clenched shut.

Seto chuckled. "Relax, Wheeler. I haven't even done anything yet." His hand lightly teased and twisted the mound of flesh and Joey gave a small cry that he stifled as his back arched into Seto's chest. "Though I think it's safe to say that you're a virgin."

"You bastard… that's none of your damn business," Joey growled. But his anger gave way to panic when he discovered that Seto's other hand had made its way to his pants and had already unbuckled his belt. He began struggling anew, but ceased immediately when he felt Kaiba run his tongue slowly down his neck, sending a shock of pleasure that momentarily paralyzed him. This gave Seto more than enough time to undo the button and zipper of Joey's pants and reached his hand into their depths.

Joey felt every muscle in his body constrict as he felt himself completely enveloped in Seto's fingers.

Seto chuckled again. "Hard already, Wheeler? I haven't even gotten to the best part."

Joey wanted to fight back, but his body had lost most of its motor skills. He opened his mouth to cuss the blue-eyed narcissist out, but the words caught in his throat as he felt the fingers begin to move, caressing and massaging. Joey's knees nearly caved beneath him and he had to lean against the glass window for supported. His entire body felt hot and his mind was becoming hazed over. "That asshole," Joey thought but couldn't deny that this was probably the best damn thing he had ever felt in his life.

He began panting as Seto's hand moved fast over him and Joey repeated over and over to himself in his mind not to cry out, because if he did, it would mean he'd lost. The pressure in his groin built up, spreading throughout his body until he felt encased in flames. Just when he thought his body was going to burst apart from the inside, the pressure was sudden all at once released. He body went flaccid and he felt the arms leave him. Without their support he collapsed to his knees, panting, sweaty.

"Well, that was quicker than I expected."

Joey heard Seto walked away, heard the sound of running water, then heard the footsteps come back. During that time he hadn't moved. He couldn't even think straight. Had he really just been… by Kaiba?

"You better not be late for work tomorrow." Seto commented as if nothing had just happened. Joey was still in a state of shock over what happened. "What's the matter, Wheeler? I said I would give you something to cry about earlier didn't I?" Seto's frosty voice spoke, still leaving Joey speechless. Joey tried getting some thoughts together in his head, but Seto's actions just kept playing on repeat in his head.

Joey shook his head and glared at Seto, "What makes you think I still will come into work tomorrow?"

Seto just laughed at this, "Mutts always come back to their masters for a bone, always."

Joey made a fist, and was about to hit Seto with it but held back with every scrap of restraint he possessed. "I will come back to work tomorrow, but I'm no one's dog. Especially not yours," he said, pointing at Seto, staring into his steel eyes.

Seto just went back typing on his computer. "What a resilient little mutt you are," he said under his breath, but then proceeded to act like Joey was no longer in the room.

Joey's face turned red and he left the office, slamming the door behind him. The secretary stood up, "Have a pleasant day," she said smiling with a bow. This made Joey even angrier. A pleasant day, this day has been anything but pleasant. He has been insulted, molested, and somehow treated with a bizarre respect by Seto all in one day.

While continuing to leave Joey bumped into Mokuba. "Sorry kid," he said continuing to leave.

Mokuba was surprised at the expression Joey wore. "Big brother what did you do?" he thought out loud, marching straight into Seto's office.

"What did you do to Joey big brother?" Mokuba screeched as he entered.

"I merely put him in his proper place," Seto said as if he did nothing wrong. "Why do you care about that mutt anyways? He is just an employee after all." Seto added with some extra spite in the word 'employee'.

"Seto..." Mokuba said with a sigh, looking down at the floor.

* * *

*earlier on the roof*

Two teens stood together during lunch watching the events going on several stories down below them.

"See Malik, I told you." Bakura said pointing to the two boys under the tree.

"How are you always right about these things?" he said handing ten dollars to Bakura with a sigh.

* * *

KD: Okay, so ya'll are probably thinking that was a WTF moment. All we can promise is that all will be explained in due time. So sit tight until then. Hope you enjoyed it regardless. I know WE did. :P Stay tuned and your reviews are welcomed!


	6. Reading the Soul

KD: Yeah, my roomie got a new Sims game, and she's now working on making Yu-gi-oh renditions of the characters. I gotta say, it's amusing to watch.

**Chapter Six: Reading the Soul**

xxxxxx

Song for this chapter:

This is who we are- Hawthorn Heights

xxxxxx

_"Pant… pant… pant…"_

_"How does it feel, pup?"_

_"K-Kaiba…"_

_"You've been a bad puppy… I'm going to have to punish you."_

_"Ngh… ahh… Kaibaaa!"_

* * *

"Gyah!" Joey shot up in his desk chair, attracting the attention of everyone person in the classroom.

"Mr. Wheeler, is there something you wanted to share with the class?" the teacher asked, appearing thoroughly annoyed at having been interrupted in the middle of the lecture.

Joey hurriedly shook his head before trying to sink back into obscurity by pretending to take notes. As the teacher began to pick up where he left off, Joey felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, Joey," Yugi whispered from behind. "Are you feeling alright? That's the fourth time you've fallen asleep in class this week."

"Yeah… just haven't been getting enough shut eye, that's all," Joey assured him.

When class was over, Joey had some time to chat with the rest of his friends and convince them that everything was fine with him. All except for Tristan seemed convinced, but that was because Tristan knew him better than anyone. Joey hoped he wouldn't press the issue. This was something he would prefer to take the grave with him if he could. He'd just as soon forget it ever happened, but the dreams weren't making that any easier for him. When it was lunch time, Joey got up from his desk and left the room.

"I wonder what's bothering him," Yugi sighed sadly.

"You think we should follow him?" Tea asked.

"Nah, whenever he gets like this, it's best just to leave him alone for a while until he comes around," Tristan said, though he, too, looked rather concerned.

* * *

"I gotta stop thinking about this," Joey thought as he made his way to the school rooftop in order to clear his head.

When he emerged outside onto the sunlit rooftop, he noticed someone was already there. What he saw caused him to do a double take. He saw his friend, Ryou… or at least he thought it was Ryou, as well as another guy… or at least he thought it was another guy. The two were in the middle of a heated lip lock, with Ryou's back against the chain link fence while his… partner's hands were moving through his white hair and under his school uniform. Joey felt his cheeks heating just watching it, yet he was so stunned he couldn't bring himself to look away. Well, at least not until one of Ryou's eyes opened and glanced Joey's way, glaring over his partner's shoulder who was preoccupied with devouring Ryou's neck. That was when the blonde made a hurried retreat.

_"Did I really just see that?"_ Joey thought in amazement as he began walking from the school rooftop as fast as his legs would carry him with breaking into a run. _"I didn't think Ryou swung that way." _Joey recalled easily what the pair was doing and found himself replacing them with himself and Seto in his mind. When he realized what he was imaging he gave a panicked exclamation and ran to the boys' bathroom and began washing his face at the sink hoping to cleanse these horrible images from his mind.

"How much did you see?" a voice hissed into Joey's ear. Joey looked up into the mirror and saw the thoroughly annoyed white haired boy in the mirror. All imagery of him and Seto were instantly washed away by the sight he saw in the mirror.

Joey turned around to face the teenager, much against his instincts. "I…I didn't see anything." Joey waved his hands in defense, flinging water everywhere in the process, not wanting to annoy the guy even further.

"If my host didn't make me promise to leave you guys alone..." Bakura muttered under his breath, so the young blond couldn't hear his aggravation. He has been itching for a good killing; and Joey and company never made that vow to Ryou easy for him. It was a pact between his and his host, that could freely come out and do whatever he pleased so long as he left Ryou's friends unharmed.

_"I don't think this guy is Ryou, he might be other one…Bakura,"_ Joey thought, drying his face with his jacket sleeve. He knew the sweet Brit could never hold such hatred in his eyes on his own. Joey knew about the power of the millennium necklace, and understood that Bakura took over Ryou quite often, but it was rare for it to happen at school.

"I don't care much for liars." Bakura started, his arms crossed across his chest, "And if you do tell anyone about what you saw. I will not hesitate to tell about you and dear Seto."

Joey swallowed and looked at Bakura, who obviously didn't buy his excuse for not wanting to imagine the scene he saw on the roof again. _"But what is there to tell about me and Seto?"_ Joey began in thought, _"and how much does he know about what has happened?"_ He was soon lost in his own thoughts, imagery of his and Seto together engulfed his mind once again. "I don't even understand what I saw," Joey started, "So, I won't tell anyone anything." Joey thought that that was the most honest response he could give the guy, without infuriating him any further. "But what makes ya think there is anything going on between me and Kaiba?"

"Give me your deck," Bakura said holding out his hand to Joey.

"Whach'ya need that for?" Joey said befuddled, his hand moving towards the deck in his pocket protectively.

"Just give me your deck," Bakura said with more force towards the blonde. Joey begrudgingly handed over the deck to him.

"Ya better not take any of my cards." Joey said, a tad cocky; he was, after all, proud of his deck.

Bakura gave a derisive snort before shuffling the deck and setting it down on the sink counter. He drew three cards and placed them side by side. "Tell me, Joseph, have you ever had a tarot reading before?"

"Eh? Like fortune telling?" Joey asked.

"I suppose in laymen's terms you could call it that," Bakura said. "By reading your deck, I can read your soul's past, present, and future." Bakura flipped over the first card, which turned out to be Chasm of Spikes. "It seems you've had quite a trying past. For a long time you were stuck in a dark hole filled with nothing but bitter anger and self-loathing."

Joey felt a little freaked out by the accuracy of Bakura's reading. "N-no way…"

"Next, let's take a look at your current situation," Bakura said ignoring Joey's shock. He flipped over the middle card which was reveal as Baby Dragon. "Interesting… it seems you're surprisingly innocent towards your existing ordeal, but there's still plenty of room for growth. And now for your future…"

"Eh… that's okay, really, I don't need to know," Joey insisted, now seriously becoming freaked out.

"Oh, but I insist," Bakura said with a smirk before turning over the final card.

Joey tried closing his eyes as if that would make the cards disappear but curiosity got the better of him and he peaked. Bakura was holding the card with a quizzical expression. "What? What is it?"

Bakura glanced at him before showing him the card. "Time Wizard."

"Eh? What's that card mean?" Joey asked.

"Only time will tell."

Joey stared blankly at him. "Okay… ya officially lost me."

"You were never on track to begin with," Bakura commented, replacing the cards in the deck before walking past Joey.

"Hey, wait," Joey demanded, grabbing Bakura's shoulder. "Let Ryou go, ya creep. That's his body your hijacking."

Bakura sent Joey a glare that made the blonde teen quickly withdraw his hand. "My host and I have a particular… arrangement I guess you could call it."

"What kind of arrangement?" Joey questioned seriously. "Ryou is my friend and I don't want ya hurting him."

"Let's just say that because of him, your souls are safe…for now." Bakura left the bathroom in a hurry, heading back to the classroom.

Joey looked back down at the deck in his hand, his time wizard on top. _"Only time will tell, huh?"_ Joey put his deck back into his pocket heading back to the classroom. _"Ok, Chasm of Spikes relates to my past. Bakura did emphasize that my past was dark, and he was right, I didn't lead on the happy-go-lucky life I do now. Baby Dragon is my present. He said that I was innocent and have room to grow. I really don't get how I'm 'possed ta be innocent though. But my future. That's the most confusing. My Time Wizard. 'Only time will tell.' Maybe only time will tell if I'm able to keep up my current life or I might go back and let my past repeat itself." _Joey kept thinking through what happened during class, not paying attention to the lecture at all._ "Now I'm thinkin' too much into it."_

* * *

"Fluffikins, you came back," Malik exclaimed happily upon seeing the white haired thief return to the rooftop where the tomb keeper had waited for him.

"I came back to tell you to leave," said Bakura. "Now go home before you attract more unwanted attention."

"But we didn't finish," Malik groaned in disappointment. "I can't go home when I'm all worked up."

"Then just masturbate later," Bakura bluntly stated back to the Egyptian.

Malik's head drooped down. "But it's not the same. How can you stop in the middle of something?"

"I suppose voyeurism puts me out of the mood," Bakura declared simply.

"Voy… what?" Malik asked, looking at him blankly.

"Just go back home already," Bakura said leaving, knowing that his vessel does not like being late for class.

Malik complied, leaving the school and heading back home to the apartment he and Bakura shared.

He spent the trip pondering about Bakura's unpredictability. There would be some days where he was very aloof towards the former tomb keeper, and then there were days where the thief would without any warning pin Malik down and have his way with him until the Egyptian was too exhausted to even move.

Malik didn't know what incited these brief periods of sexual arousal. Malik wondered if the thief specifically did this just to watch Malik squirm, secretly laughing at his failed attempts to understand him. It was difficult, but that didn't stop Malik from trying.

* * *

KD: Doncha just love false hope? :P Well, hopefully Joey will understand soon, otherwise things will just get even more complicated. So how will Joey cope with this odd situation? Stay tuned to find out! Oh, and happy belated halloween! :D


	7. Reach out For Me

KD: Another week, another chapter. Hooray. Nothing like a little Seto/Joey goodness.

**Chapter Seven: Reach out For Me**

_Chapter Song:_

_The four tops - Reach out I'll be there_

It was another day at work, and another stuffy costume, for Joey. The armor of the Celtic Guardian costume was feeling heavier and heavier as the day went on, but that didn't keep him from putting his best foot forward. Joey did his best to erase the memory of the incident that happened nearly three weeks ago, but he still had nightmares about Kaiba fondling his body. He had not seen the CEO since the incident and that was a relief, but at the same time it was strangely disheartening.

Kids were coming up to Joey, posing for pictures and receiving hugs. Unbeknownst to the blonde, Seto was further down the walk from Joey, clipboard in hand, jotting down notes about everything going on in the park. He made a few glances at Joey, but paid no real attention to him.

The children finally left with the exception of one who got separated from her parents. While Kit left to help the child locate her mom and dad, Joey had a moment for a water break. While relaxing, he noticed that a few feet down the pathway were some kids arguing about a children's card game, duel monsters. The older kid pushed the smaller kid on the ground, ripping up his card and throwing the pieces on the ground. Joey got up, remembering how it felt to be picked on, and decided to step in.

"Hey, kids, what do ya think you're doing?" Joey said, walking towards them, attempting a macho walk. The kids looked at Joey and started laughing.

"Who are you supposed to be?" the leader said in disgust.

"I'm the Celtic Guardian." Joey said with pride, "and you shouldn't…" The kid kicked Joey in the shin before he could continue his heroic speech. "Why you…." Joey started, bending over rubbing his shin. When he looked up he noticed the kids had started running away. Joey started after them, but stepped on a soda bottle and fell on his back. He tried to stand up, but his ankle throbbed with pain and he almost fell over again.

"You ok Mr. Celtic Guardian?" the little kid said hovering over Joey.

"Yeah, kid, no worries here," Joey said forcing a grin as he carefully got to his feet, resting most of his weight on his good ankle. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… but they tore up my favorite card," the kid said with a sniffle as he picked up the pieces. "They said I could never be a good duelist."

"Don't you believe that for a second," Joey told him. "Anyone can become a great duelist. Ya just gotta believe in yourself, and don't let nothing anyone else says get ya down."

This certainly seemed to cheer the kid up. "Thanks Mr. Celtic Guardian. If I ever get you, I'm gonna make you a part of my deck!"

_"Kid's got spirit," _Joey thought as he watched him run off. He felt his ankle throb again and decided it might be a good idea if he checked it just to be safe. Sitting down on one of the benches, he gingerly removed his boot as well as his sock from the injured leg. The area connecting his foot and ankle was already beginning to swell up, and he wondered how he was going to finish his shift. The boots were tight, and even he knew constricting a swollen ankle wasn't healthy. Seeing that Kit was still nowhere in sight, Joey decided to limp his way back to the employee break room to rest his foot for a while.

Joey was too busy paying attention to keeping the weight on his good foot and making it into the break room to notice what was to come. "Come on, Joey, the chair is only a few feet away."

*crack*

Joey felt cheap ceramic crack under his bare foot, making him fall back once again. _"Damn it." _Joey thought trying to stand up once again. Once he finally got back up with many groins of pain, he stepped forward; he felt sharp pains in his bare foot. Joey looked down and saw pieces of a broken coffee mug pierced into his foot. Blood was trickling out of his foot and on top the carpet, and he hobbled over to the chair to sit down. _"Should I try taking it out of my foot?" _Joey thought, not sure what to do with hit foot at this point.

"What the hell happened here, Wheeler?" Joey looked up and saw those piercing blue eyes looking at his current state with annoyance and almost concern.

"I…I…" Joey started, but was interrupted by Kit blasting through the break room door.

"Oh my God, Joey, what happened? I was looking for you everywhere." Kit rushed over to his side, oblivious to Seto standing in the room.

"Nikita Ivanov," Seto said, clearing his throat to make sure that she knew of his presence.

"Mr. Kaiba," She said, dropping to her knees before him, not looking up for an instant.

"What happened here?" he said, unfazed by her quirky reverence for him. She had done the exact same thing at her interview and Kaiba found it mildly amusing.

"Well, there was a little girl who got separated from her family, so I went with her to find them. After we found them, I got lost, forgetting where I left Joey, sir. So I went looking for him, and found him here. I'm terribly sorry, sir." Kit still had her head towards the ground, imagining the face that Kaiba had this instant.

Kaiba's eyes then drifted back to Joey. "Wheeler?" he questioned wanted a reasonable explanation to why the blond was bleeding on the carpet.

Joey really didn't feel like explaining anything when his foot was being shredded by pieces of coffee mug still lodged in his foot. Gritting through the pain he began explaining how he'd hurt his ankle and came into the break room to rest it. Half way through his story, a messy looking guy with unkempt hair and stubble walked out of the bathroom.

"Dude… is that my coffee cup?"

"Jackson," Kit and Seto said at the same time. This caused Kit to go into a momentary fan girl moment for saying a word in sync with her employer.

"So," Seto said, stooping down and picking up the handle of the broken cup. "This mug was yours?"

"Yeah, like, I was having a drink and then, like, the mug slipped from my fingers and spilt coffee all over me, so I like, went to the bathroom to wash off my clothes. I was totally gonna pick the cup up, honest. I'm against all forms of littering. Pro environment man." He then noticed Joey sitting and the pieces began clicking together. "Dude… your foot's bleeding."

Joey did not respond; he was trying not to inhale the prominent smell that was coming off the guy.

The glare Seto gave him was smoldering. "You're fired."

"You have no idea, man."

While the guy was kindly escorted out by security called by Seto, he had two of them cover Jeoy's foot with a towel before picking him up, causing him to yell in protest. "Get this mess cleaned up and find someone to replace Wheeler for the day," he told Kit, who more than happily obliged, before going out to his vehicle with the guards carting Joey behind him.

Finally, when they were away from the park in the employee area, Seto graced Joey with an honest opinion. "You need to go to a Hospital, now." Joey was thrown in the back of Seto's limo by the guards, and Seto gracefully sat next to him.

"No! No hospitals," Joey stated forcefully as he tried to situate himself without causing more damage to his foot.

"What are you whining about now?" Kaiba said in annoyance.

"I don't want a hospital. That's not something I can afford," said Joey as he was doing his best to keep blood from dripping all over the back seat. "I'll heal just fine on my own."

Seto gave him a look that clearly said, 'you're an idiot and I don't know why I even bother to have you in my presence'. He reached up and pressed a button that closed a window so that the back seat was completely closed off from the driver seat.

"You and your fancy limos," Joey grumbled.

"I could always put you back out on the street," Seto offered.

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?" Joey thought. Didn't matter that Joey's leg was twisted to kingdom come and he was bleeding all over his outfit, Kaiba would make him belly crawl his way home. During Joey's silent lapse Kaiba had reached beneath the seat and opened a little compartment where he pulled out a first aid kit. "Oh, heck no!" Joey exclaimed already seeing where this was going. "I'll take my chances, thank you."

"You have pieces of ceramic lodged in your foot, Wheeler, and to top it off your ankle was sprained. If something isn't done, it could cause permanent damage, and then you wouldn't be able to do your job, and I would fire you. Then you would be even more useless than you are now," Seto expelled. "Since you refuse to go to a hospital, you should at least accept some first aid."

Joey begrudgingly accepted Seto's help and just laid back and relaxed as much as he could being alone in the back seat of a limo with Seto. After getting Joey situated, Seto carefully unwrapped the towel to expose the foot. Then came the not so fun part, and that was Seto pulling the fragments out of his foot. When Joey questioned if he knew what he was doing he just sent Joey an annoyed glare. Joey had to clench his teeth as Seto extracted the pieces one by one, and soaking the blood up with gauze before it could touch the seat. When the last piece was out Joey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now we just need to disinfect it," Seto stated as he shrugged off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Kaiba. What are you doing?" Joey shouted confused why the CEO was stripping in front of him. Seto just ignored him as if it were nothing. Seto took the shirt off and began to wrap it up in a cylinder shape. Joey looked on suspiciously, not knowing what to expect from the guy any more. "What's that for?" he finally asked after Seto had it perfectly folded.

"Your mouth, Wheeler," Seto said pushing it between his lips, "And trust me, you will need it." As soon as the shirt was in Joey's mouth, Seto grabbed the rubbing alcohol and poured some on a cotton ball. Joey was thankful that the shirt was in his mouth because he could feel the coming pain radiating from the tiny ball. Seto started to rub the alcohol on the open wounds and was surprised how calm Joey was about it. He could still feel all the muscles in Joey's body tense up, but he didn't fidget once. As soon as Seto was done cleaning the wounds and took large cotton patches and sports wrap and began to cover up the wounds thoughtfully, making sure to not cut off circulation to the foot completely.

Finally, he pulled out some Icy Hot and placed the patches perfectly around the slightly swollen ankle. Joey enjoyed the coolness of the patches, reminders of Seto's hands against his skin a few weeks ago. Joey mentally hit himself for thinking of Seto like that. Joey awkwardly handed Seto the shirt back. Seto didn't even bother, but instead placed his jacket over his bare chest. This for some reason pissed Joey off even more.

* * *

KD: Yeah, you can totally tell Kit is a reincarnation of us. :P But is that not precious or what? And trust us, it gets better. So stay tuned for the next installment. And Please Review. ^_^


	8. Whatever I Can Take

**Chapter Eight: Whatever I Can Take**

_Song for chapter: I hate You- Sick Puppies_

They arrived to the Kaiba mansion, and Seto lifted up the blond and slung him over his shoulder, that way he would not do any more damage than he already had.

"What do you think ya doing?" Joey said after getting his wind back, not liking be handled in such a matter. He tried to hit Seto's back but the rich snob had him at an odd angle.

"A hurt puppy shouldn't try to walk," was all Seto said to him. Seto carried Joey up a few flights of stairs with one of the maids quickly following behind. Seto gently placed Joey on a bed in one of the many guest rooms and left without a word.

The maid began to take off the bandages with a smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Wheeler. I did receive a medical degree in college. I just happen to work both as a maid and personal doctor to the Kaiba family, so there is no need to worry." Joey felt a sigh of relief, knowing that the maid had a good idea with what she was doing.

"Will I need stitches?" Joey asked, not wanting to think how many days he would have to be bed ridden because of this.

"I'm afraid so. The punctures in your foot are fairly deep. I will need to get a few things, from another room. I will be back in a few minutes." She left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Joey in the room alone.

"Well, at least this day cannot get any worse," Joey thought staring up at the ceiling. After several minutes the doctor maid came back, with another maid assistance, pulling what looked like an IV, and a cart with medical tools on it. The maid brought over a gas mask, and Joey breath in the sleepy fumes, drifting off into La La Land.

* * *

"Where am I?" Joey looked around the room and noticed that he was in a bright white hospital room. He looked at his foot and noticed that all the pain was gone, and there were no stitches in his foot. Pulling out the IV he stood up from the bed and looked around the room. He walked to the closed door, and opened it seeing an empty hallway, no doctors or patients in sight.

"You shouldn't be up, Mr. Wheeler," A familiar voice said from behind him.

"Kaiba?" Joey turned around and saw the brunette in a white doctor's coat, with Seto Kaiba M.D. writing above the pocket. He had a clear clipboard in his hand, and looked like a professional doctor.

"That's Dr. Kaiba." He said correcting the blond.

"Even in my dream's he's cocky." Joey thought trying to look past the attractive doctor outfit.

"You've been asleep for a while," Seto said, pulling a foiled-wrapped hamburger literally from nowhere. "You're probably hungry, am I right?"

"Well, food's always good enough for me," Joey said, reaching for the hamburger.

Seto, however, pulled the hamburger out of reach whilst shaking his head in a disapproving manner. "If you eat too fast after going so long without food, you'll only make yourself ill." He unwrapped some of the foil and tore a chunk of the hamburger off before holding it close to Joey's lips. "As long as you're my patient, Mr. Wheeler, you'll be taken well care of."

"Okay… this is just a little… naw, scratch that, this is extremely freaky," Joey thought. "But the hamburger does look good… oh, is that bacon?" Figuring it was just a dream and what harm could one bite do, Joey opened his mouth and snagged the piece of hamburger out of Seto's fingers. It tasted unlike anything Joey had ever eaten. When he asked for another piece, Seto got this sly tilt to his features.

"Hm, perhaps if you do a trick for me," Seto chuckled. "Speak like a dog."

"I don't wanna, just gimme the hamburger," Joey complained, trying to snag it, but Seto held it tauntingly out of reach.

"Bark, or no food," Seto ordered.

Joey grumbled something but then opened his mouth and, much to his shock, an actual dog bark escaped his lips. Suddenly he was in a dog costume that seemed to haunt his dreams more often lately.

"Good boy, Wheeler," Seto said tearing off another piece of hamburger and tossing it to Joey, who caught it in his mouth. He couldn't help himself. It's like his body was acting purely on instinct now.

"Now sit and roll over, mutt," Seto commanded.

The dream soon started to get fuzzy as Joey started doing tricks liking playing dead. "Woof!" he shouted, waking up from his bizarre dream, soon remembering that he was in Kaiba's house getting stitches. The doctor maid looked at Joey, holding back a laugh, but as soon as she left the room, Joey thought he heard the sounds of giggles echoing in the hall. Joey's head hit the pillow, still foggy from the sleeping gas, but knew for sure he was no longer in a dream anymore.

* * *

Seto spent the rest of the day managing his business. Everything went smoothly as usual. The only annoyance was that every now and then when his thoughts drifted for just a split second, they always went to the blonde mutt resting in one of his many guest bedrooms. The idiot really should have gone to a hospital, that way Seto wouldn't have to deal with him being in his home. Truth be told, Seto was surprised when Joey had shown up to work the day after the office visit. He was a persistent little mutt, he'd give him that. What could possible make Wheeler so desperate for a job? When Seto's work track was interrupted once again by irksome thoughts he decided to give it a rest for the night.

He was going to turn in for the night, but a nagging voice -that sounded disturbingly akin to his younger brother- told him he should check up on his injured employee. When he went to the room, Joey was fast asleep in a mess of covers with his foot bandaged and splinted. Seto pulled up a chair just to relax for a bit. It had been a long day for him, and now he had to deal with this. He supposed he would have to give Wheeler time off until his leg was better.

Seto couldn't keep his eyes open anymore, and didn't want to get out of the chair; it was a long day and he just wanted to go to sleep. Seto's head leaned again his gravity defying collar and his deep blue eyes drifted off into sleep.

In the middle of the night, Joey woke up from a dream of Ryou and Tristan eating all his ice cream bars. Joey winced in pain, remembering that he had twisted his ankle and couldn't move his body. Three feet away from him, he was Seto asleep in a wooden chair, using his jacket's collar as a pillow. "Asleep, he doesn't look as big of an egocentric ... as usual." Joey said, watching Kaiba breathing rythmically. Joey wished he had a camera to snap a photo of the sleeping Kaiba, but sadly he didn't have one on hand. "Oh well." Joey said with a sigh, decided to go back to dream candy land.

It was the next morning, and light was slowly creeping in through the window. Seto was the first to arise, fixing his collar and hair to look presentable once again. Seto noticed that Joey's eyes were slowly opening and was tempted to leave before Joey noticed him but it was too late, "Don't move, Kaiba." Joey said with a long yawn. Seto stopped at the door and turned around to look at a bed head Joey.

"What do you want?" Seto said, arms crossed against his chest.

"Why did you stay here all night watching me?" Joey bluntly said, startling Seto.

"You must be imagining things, Wheeler," Seto icily commented hoping that Joey would end the conversation.

"No, Kaiba, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you sleeping there on that chair." Joey pointed to the wooden chair a few feet away from his bed.

Seto sighed ever so slightly. "I was just checking on you, mutt. Mokuba was worried about the injured puppy I brought home."

Joey's head almost started to boil, but then he realized the bizarre sincerity in Seto's voice. Maybe he really wasn't that bad of a guy after all. "Well, thanks for the hospitality, I guess. But I really outta be getting home." He slid himself to the foot of the bed and dangled his feet off the bed.

"Don't tell me you're actually going to try to walk on that leg of yours," Seto said in a slightly condescending tone.

"I'll be fine. I barely feel any pain at all," Joey said optimistically before standing up… only to almost immediately fall forward as pain flared up his leg and rendered him immobile. Good news, he found something to grab to avoid severely damaging his leg further; bad news, (or good news if you're a rabid fangirl like us), that something happened to be Seto's waist.

Joey was wide eyed with disbelief, out of all the things he had to hold on to in order to not fall it had to be Seto, and the other man didn't seem that pleased either. Joey felt his cheeks crimson with blood being in Seto's arms. Much to Joey's surprise, Seto's right hand was rubbing Joey's hair ever so lightly, "Tell me Wheeler were you born this stupid or was it something you have been practicing your entire life?" Seto's kind gesture was instantly ruined by the remark, causing Joey to clench a fist.

"Well, tell me something, Kaiba, were you born this arrogant or was it something you learned after kicking daddy outta office?"

Joey almost thought he felt a laugh in Seto's chest. "How did you know, Wheeler?"

Joey's face was shocked by this comment. Seto used his surprise to push Joey back down on the bed and left to room, fetching a servant to help Joey to the car. The servant was not nearly as skilled as Seto when it came to helping Joey with the stairs, but he got down in one piece none the less. Seto was standing near the door as Joey was being helped passed it.

"You better heal up fast, Wheeler." Seto started slyly, "I'm not paying you for sick leave."

Joey nodded at Kaiba and got in the car determined to get back to his lousy job sooner than Kaiba would expect. 'Wow, who woulda thought ol' Moneybags had a heart.' Still….as Joey remembered all of the experiences this past month had brought him, he wondered why now every time he thought of Seto, his entire body started to feel… weird, but strangely warm. 'Could it be…? Nah! No freakin' way!'

Seto entered the kitchen to see Mokuba all smiles while eating a bowl of cereal. "Good morning, Seto," he said cheerfully between bites. Seto was confused by Mokuba's early morning enthusiasm. It seemed as if Mokuba was almost going to burst with excitement.

"Something wrong, Mokuba?" Seto asked with sincere concern for his little brother.

Mokuba grinned, "I saw you and Joey this morning," and Seto's face twisted in dismay from his brother's simple statement.

* * *

KD: Don't you just love perceptive little brothers? :P I'm sure Seto doens't right now. What will happen next? Seriously, what? Just kidding, we know but we're not telling. You'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter. So until next time. :D


	9. Item Number A1843302

KD: Hey peoples! Sorry for the wait. You know how life is. But I hope this chapter makes it worth it. If not then leave a complaint. ;P

**Chapter Nine: Item Number A1843302**

_Songs for this chapter: _

_I Want it that Way- Backstreet Boys_

"Seto, what's going on between you and Joey?" Mokuba asked while the two sat at the breakfast table.

"There's nothing between us save for the overwhelming difference in our intelligence and skill level," Seto told his brother, drinking from his coffee mug.

"Come on, Seto. I know you better than that," Mokuba insisted. "You've been acting really weird lately, and I wanna know why. I'm worried about you, big brother."

Seto's face softened a little. "Mokuba, there isn't any reason for you to worry. I'm perfectly fine."

Mokuba pouted, clearly discontented with his brother's answer, but he didn't press the issue any further. Seto was definitely acting strangely, even if he wouldn't admit it. Joey had to be the cause, because it started shortly after Seto had hired him. Mokuba couldn't think of any other reason. What he didn't understand was how Joey was becoming a problem for Seto. Though he did mess up a really expensive outfit, so Mokuba had heard from the gossiping Kit. Maybe if he went straight to the heart of the issue he could figure out more. After all, no offense to Joey, it was a lot easier to get things out of him than big brother Seto.

* * *

Mokuba waited until Joey was well enough to go back to work. No sense harassing him at home or at school. Joey had just taken off his Flame Swordsman helmet when Mokuba stepped in the break room.

"Hey Joey! How's working going today?" He said, startling Joey and almost causing him to drop his water.

"Hey, Mokuba, I didn't know you were going to be here today," Joey said after taking a few sips of water. "I didn't think Kaiba wanted ya to work on school nights."

Mokuba smiled. "I came on my own today. I wanted to see you, Joey. How's the foot?"

"It's doing better," Joey told him, shifting his weight to keep most of it off said injured foot. "Still hurts a little when I walk, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"That's good." Mokuba laced hit fingers together in the same style of his big brother, deciding to get straight to the point. "So, what's going on between you and Seto?" Joey was taken aback by the bluntness of the question. "Ever since you started to work for Seto, he seems different..." Mokuba's thoughts started to drift off.

Joey himself didn't know what was going on with Seto. One day he would be a royal pain and the next day he would be helping him, showing a softer side. "Truth be told, Mokuba I really don't have any idea what's going on between me and Kaiba." Joey placed his hand at the back of his hand and started to laugh nervously. Joey didn't want to go into detail about what has happened between him and Seto, after all, Mokuba was still a little kid. "Sorry I can't be more help than that."

Mokuba sighed. It was obvious that Joey was hiding something as usual but laughing it off as if it was nothing. That made him all the more curious. "It's ok, Joey. I'll figure something out. I'll let you get back to work, then." Mokuba left the room, waving goodbye to Joey. _"__Well, that was no use either. There has to be some way to figure out what's going on between the two of them, but how? Idea!"_ Mokuba thought, turning around dashing back to Joey, "Hey, Joey, you like video games, right?"

Joey was both surprised and a little wary of the younger Kaiba brother's sudden return. He felt though, as long as he wasn't asking Joey about Seto, then things would be A-OK.

Joey enthusiastically nodded his head while Mokuba slid back into the room. "Well, if you ever want to come over to the mansion to beta some new video games, just tell me. In fact, if you wanted to come over after work today, I could set one up when I get back home."

"Sure, Mokuba, I'd love ta." Joey's goofy grin grew wider at the thought of playing video games, totally forgetting that he would be in Kaiba's house.

"See you after work, then." Mokuba waved goodbye once again before heading back home to get ready for when Joey.

When Mokuba got home, he saw Seto in the living room on his laptop as usual, but was not typing away. Mokuba looked over Seto's shoulder and it looked like he was scrolling through costume designer websites, specifically ones of modified Red Eyes suits. "What's up, Seto?" Mokuba asked curiously.

Seto grabbed the ostentatious envelope and handed it to Mokuba, "It's from Pegasus." Mokuba opened the envelope and saw it was an invitation to a Halloween party and his eyes light up in excitement. Mokuba loved being able to go to parties, unlike Seto.

"We're going, Seto, aren't we?" Mokuba asked, lightly bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Of course we are." Seto had a bit of resentment in his voice.

"Can we invite someone to come with us Seto?" Mokuba asked, a wide grin upon his face. Seto could tell Mokuba was planning something in his head, but for the life of him didn't know what it was. Something told him he would not be thrilled when he found out.

* * *

It was another long day at the office, with too much work to be done, but not enough hours in the day to finish it all. It also didn't help that Seto kept getting distracted. "I think we should invite Joey to the Halloween Party. It will be fun having him there." Mokuba's words from several nights ago were still ringing strong in his head.

"Why am I still even thinking about that?" Seto paused in his work knowing from experience that he would get nothing done. "Mokuba and Wheeler have become close friends the past months. He has also been coming over to our place more. It seems like he is over almost every day off playing video games with Mokuba." Seto opened a program on his laptop that streamed live footage from the cameras at Kaiba Land. After going through a few different video inputs, he finally found the one aimed at Joey.

Joey was wearing a new costume, just arrived that very morning. It was a humanoid Red Eyes Black Dragon costume. If it had been a Blue Eyes, Seto would have been appalled by it, but Joey loved Red Eyes, and Seto knew he would enjoy it. The kids were enjoying it to, laughing and smiling when they saw the towering dragon willingly give them hugs. "That's one of the things that drew me to that numbskull…" Seto started to think, but instantly waved the thought out of his mind. He minimized the video screen, and attempted to go back to his programming. He wanted to have the basic coding for his new game done by the end of the month, and at the rate he was going today, he felt like he would be pulling all-nighters the next two weeks to make it possible.

However, his mind was still drifting away. Part of him wanted to put the camera footage back up and watch the puppy a bit longer. He finally caved into the urge and reopened the footage. "Now that I think about it, the first time I even bothered to learn his name was when I heard about what he did for his sister. After winning the money in Pegasus tournament, I heard he spent it all on his sister's eye operation. Most people would have spent it on more trivial material objects, but not him. Wheeler knew the importance of a bond between siblings." Seto sipped his coffee, staring intently at the footage of Joey and Kit. "However, that was not enough to convince me that he was worthy of my respect. It was his constant desire to duel me, always fighting back; his tenacity, which drew me the most to him. He was just as arrogant and hot headed as I, even if he did believe in that heart-of-the-card nonsense." Seto folded his hands, he jaw resting gently on his thumbs. Joey was leaving the screen, and it looked like he was going on his break with Kit. "I have always felt an attraction to the mutt; it's an attraction I do not fully understand myself. But I always knew that attraction was there." Seto closed out the video stream, knowing that it would be at least a good twenty minutes before he would see the blond again.

"This attraction, is it just purely physical? Or am I genuinely interested in him? If I don't find out, it's going to keep bothering me." Before, he had been able to siphon off his interest towards the blonde teen by converting it into harsh cynicism. The other day however, when the mutt had kept pushing and pushing, Seto had snapped. The last time Seto had given way to his emotions was when he was a child. Seto was frustrated both at Joey and at himself from losing control like that, but at least he'd had enough sense and tact not to fully take Joey then and there. Still, it had been worth it, seeing Wheeler cave like that, watching him squirm, hearing him moan, and feeling his body shudder against Seto's.

"My approach for conveying my interest was probably not the most obvious to him," Seto lightly chucked, thinking back on how he toyed with the young teen so easily that day, "But, I still do not fully understand how to express it in a way he would get it. After all, I never exactly grew up in the most loving of environments." Seto sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes, "Wheeler, may not be the brightest, but he should at least have picked enough on my subtle acts to show I care. But I'm sure as hell not going to just come out and say it. He should know by now. Why else would I bother hiring him, or helping him in any way for that matter? But he still just doesn't get it." He sighed heavily. "I really need to stop thinking about this and get back to my work." Seto opened his eyes and looked back at his laptop, noticing an email from his usual costume designer; they sent Seto some pictures or recently made Halloween costumes. "Well, I do need a costume for the party." Seto opened the email and saw several interesting outfits, but one stuck out to him the most, a black dog costume.

Seto had always wanted a pet, ever since he was a child. His step-father, Gozoburo Kaiba never allowed it. Yet another joy he had been forced to grow up without. Wheeler did act like a dog in several aspects, no matter how much he denied it. Seto couldn't count the number of times he wanted to snap a collar around Joey's neck and lay claim over him. In his eyes, Joey was a stray, waiting to be picked up by somebody. If Seto didn't do something soon, his chance might very well slip away.

"He would hate me. The mutt would never forgive me for it."

Joey was a dominating character, very much like Seto, and would not take well to any kind of ownership. That was just a minor detail to the president of Kaiba Corp., though. When Seto Kaiba wants something, he gets it, no matter the means. Even as he was thinking this, he was picturing Joey in the outfit. After a few minutes of deliberation, he picked up his phone and dialed a number. He waited until someone answered. "I'm looking at one of your products, item number A1843302. Do the ears and tail come in blonde by any chance?"

The mutt would hate him, might never forgive him. It would still be funny as hell though.

* * *

KD: Cliffhanger! And this time it will be three weeks until we post the next chapter. Bwahaha! Just kidding. We're not that mean. :D We'll get it up as soon as we can. I.e. when we get it back from the beta. Stay tuned until then. ^_^


	10. Feathers and Fedoras

KD: Now we're finally at the chapter everyone's been waiting for, and by everyone we mean us. Seriously, this is probably one of our favorite chapters, so take it and like it. :P Btw, anyone who can spot the inspiration for the chapter title, gets a golden cookie.

**Chapter Ten: Feathers and Fedoras**

_Songs for chapter:_

_Had Enough- Breaking Benjamin_

_Freak on a leash- KORN_

"Where's Kaiba? I'm gonna kill him!" Joey shouted, bursting into the living room where Mokuba was getting fitted into his grim reaper costume.

Upon seeing Joey, Mokuba burst out laughing. "Wow, Joey. That's quite an outfit."

Joey was dressed in what could pass as a bondage outfit, a black tank with detachable sleeves that started half way down his biceps and ended at his hands in fingerless gloves. His matching black pants were tight-fitted at the top with loose fitted belts decorating his waste. But the best part by far was the perked-up, sand-colored dog ears and upright fluffy tail.

"When I get a hold of him, I'm gonna take that gravity-defying coat of his, wrap it around his neck and…"

"What are you barking about now, Wheeler?" Seto asked, stepping into the room.

"Wow! See, Seto, I told you that outfit would look great on you!" Mokuba stated happily.

Seto was dressed as an earl with a gray suit, a top hat, and even a monocle. He looked very refined. After getting passed the slight ridiculousness of it, Joey might have found him to be rather attractive had he not been in such a temper.

"Rgh… Kaiba," Joey growled. "You're a sick bastard, you know that?"

Seto exhaled wearily before telling Mokuba to get the car ready. Mokuba complied and ran out of the room, being careful not to trip over his robes.

"Is there a reason you're being more aggravating than usual?" Seto asked casually.

"Look at me! I look like the poster boy for furry bondage!" Joey shouted.

"Well, if you're enjoying that then you're going to love this," Seto said smartly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sleek black box. He opened it, and when Joey saw what was inside he crossed his arms.

"No way. I'd rather saw off my own hands."

"It's for the outfit," Seto told him, taking it from the box.

"I said 'no'!"

"Bad dog."

"Don't call me that!"

"I'm not doing this to be demeaning," said Seto seriously, and the look in his eyes caught Joey off guard. "I'm indirectly showing everyone what is rightfully mine."

Joey flushed. Seto's word confused him, as he didn't really understand what the young CEO meant. All he knew was he didn't appreciate the idea of being owned. He didn't want to wear the outfit in front of dozens of people who he didn't even know. He didn't want to go to this party. But Seto had asked him, even gave him a choice in the matter. He could have easily forced Joey, but didn't.

*Flashback 1 week ago*

(Oh snap! A flashback within a flashback. It's just like inception!)

"Wheeler, I see you have Friday off of work next week." Seto said, looking over the work schedules for Kaiba Land in his usual chair while Joey and Mokuba's faces were inches away from the TV playing video games.

Of course I have weekends off, you're the one that does the schedule, Joey thought to himself, struggling to stay absorbed in the video game. He was losing to Mokuba and didn't want to lose his concentration.

"So that means you can come to the Halloween party Pegasus is hosting." Seto said, knowing that Joey was only half paying attention to him.

"Yah….Gah!" Joey said, standing up, pressing the button's harder, knowing he would lose any second now.

"It's a costume party," Seto lightly groaned. He hated parties; they were a waste of time, but he knew he had to go for social networking business purposes. He heard Joey moan in defeat while Mokuba flashed a quick victory pose. "The party is at 8:00 so make sure you are at the mansion no later than 4:00 to get ready." Seto said, now scrolling through the list of invitees to that party.

"Wha? Why do I have to be at your house at 8 o' clock?" Joey said, confused.

Seto sent a piercing glare to Joey, making sure he paid attention to him this time, "I hate going to parties, however I need to go to them for business purposes. Pegasus is hosting a Halloween costume party this Friday and I want you to come. Your misery at the party will help my night go by faster."

Joey clenched his teeth. "And what makes ya think I'll agree to go?"

"You don't have to go, Wheeler…" Seto started, but was soon interrupted

"Then there's my answer." Joey snatched the controller, ready to play again.

"But Joey, if you don't go I won't have anyone to talk to," Mokuba said while looking up at Joey with round grey eyes. "I really wanted you to come."

Joey stared down at the kid and suddenly felt conflicted. He supposed he did owe Mokuba since he was letting Joey play video games that haven't even been released yet. Besides, how bad could this party be? It's only one night. Joey played out the scenario's in his head of what could happen if he goes, aka the food he would be eating, "Fine Kaiba, I'll go." Joey agreed.

*end of flashback*

However, Joey had no recollection of Seto ever mentioning a doggy bondage costume anywhere in the conversation. Yet, the way Seto was looking at Joey now…. his blue eyes gripped him tight and refused to let him go.

Joey lowered his head and uttered a single word. "Fine." Seto's expression didn't change, but he moved forward so that he was standing in front of Joey. He wrapped the leather black collar with diamond shaped studs around Joey's neck and moved it so that the dog tag, which was shaped like a dragon, was in front. "Well… at least it looks kinda cool," Joey thought, lightly pawing at the dog tag with his name engraved on it.

Seto then clasped a matching leash on the collar, wrapping the holding edge around his wrist, "Let's go, mutt." Seto lightly pulled on the leash.

"Woof woof." Joey said sarcastically.

Seto turned around and patted his head, "Good boy," and continued to lead him to the limo.

They went outside to the limo where Mokuba was waiting for them. Joey was grateful that he made no further commentary on the outfit or the leash, even though laughter was dancing in his wide grey eyes. The car ride was fairly silent, with Seto sitting next to the window and glaring out into the darkness, Mokuba trying to adjust his outfit, and Joey absentmindedly fingering the metal tag on his collar. He really hoped that there wouldn't be anyone who recognized him…. Well, with the exception of Pegasus of course.

When the limo finally stopped and they got out of the car, Joey saw that they were in the downtown area in front of an excessively large building whose windows were brightly lit. Its appearance alone was enough to suggest that the guest list was exclusive. He felt a light tugging on his leash as Seto began to walk towards the entrance as if he owned the thing, which wouldn't surprise Joey in the slightest. Once inside, Joey's jaw dropped. They were in a very large ballroom filled with wealthy-looking people dressed up in elegant and colorful costumes. The room was lavishly decorated and it certainly wasn't like any Halloween party Joey had ever seen in his life. His examination of the room ended when his eyes found the buffet and his mouth almost immediately began to water at the sight of all the food piled up on three long tables.

"I think I just died and went to heaven," he thought wistfully.

"Kaiba-boy, I'm so glad you made it," a fantabulously loud voice squealed from across the room in delight.

"Pegasus," Seto said, moving towards him, "I see you look as ostentatious as ever." Seto said, noting the toon-themed costume he was wearing.

"Mmmm. Thank you." He said, striking a pose. "Oh yes, I apologize for forgetting to wish you happy birthday a few days ago. I was watching a marathon of my favorite cartoon show and it completely slipped my mind."

"Huh? Kaiba's birthday?" Joey thought looking up at Seto in confusion. "I wonder why he didn't say anything… not that I care of course. Then again, the guy doesn't seem big on celebrating anything in general."

"Well, I have other guests to greet. Have fun, Kaiba boy." Pegasus walked away, ready to greet other guests walking in. "Welcome, Devlin boy." He yelled as Duke walked to him surrounded by his usual entourage of cheerleaders. Duke was dressed as a pimp, fedora and all.

As the voice started walking closer, Seto took the leash off of Joey. "Be a good boy while your master's away." Joey thought his face was flushing in anger to that statement, but his eyes soon veered to the food tables once again, and he scampered over there.

Mokuba went off roaming around to see if he could find someone his age at the party. Seto was thinking about finding a corner to stand in for the duration of the party, when he heard another nerve-grating voice he had hoped to avoid.

"Vell, vell, if it isn't Herr Kaiba," said a thickly German accented voice.

Seto turned to see a very effeminate looking male with long lavender hair dressed in a masquerade outfit, his robes a bright periwinkle and his mask lavishly feathered; just looking at it made Seto ill. The man was Zigfried von Schroeder, one of Seto's bigger competitors.

"I never vould have expected you to come to an occasion such as this," Zigfried said while tossing his hair back over his shoulder. "I must say, zhat outfit is very becoming of you."

Zigfried kept talking for a few more minutes so Kaiba tuned him out to keep himself from getting a much unwanted headache. Zigfried was one of several reasons Seto hated going to parties, but he certainly made the top three. "Vell, Kaiba, I'll see you at the next technology conference, and I assure you Zigfried Corporation vill be on top." He gave a flippant wave and walked away.

Seto began to look around the room to see who else had shown up that was on the list he saw, but his eyes moved to Joey. His plate was stacked with enough food to normally feed four people, but he knew his little pup would eat every bite and still go back for seconds.

"Hey, Joey, how's the food?' Mokuba inquired, appearing next to the blond and grabbing a plate.

"Wit's werishous." Joey said with a full mouth. Mokuba looked at Joey, confused to what he just said, but assumed that the food was good since he was still eating it. "This chicken is the best I ever had." Joey said after finally swallowing.

"Um, Joey, that's Squab." Mokuba said after smelling it and taking a nibble.

"What's Squab? A fancy chicken?" Joey took another bite out of it, looking like he was in heaven.

"It's pigeon. Not chicken." Mokuba said. Joey's face turned green after hearing that.

"Hehehe, you're joking, Mokuba? Right?" Joey said, swallowing his latest bite hard.

Mokuba noticed this and really didn't want Joey making a spectacle. "Of course, Joey, you know me. You're right, it's just rich people chicken." He said with a lying laugh.

Mokuba took some tripe off one of the silver platters and placed it on his plate. Joey took a big whiff of it. "What's that? It smells great." Joey said with his mouth starting to drool.

Mokuba froze up for a minute. "How about you just eat the food without asking what it is. After all, this is just rich people food." Mokuba said, slowly backing up before Joey could ask him about any more of the food.

Joey kept eating his "chicken" back in his own little world, till he heard a familiar dulcet voice heading towards him. "Look what the dog dragged in." Joey turned around, with a bone still in his mouth, to see Duke Devlin right behind him. "I thought this was an exclusive party. So how did a mutt like you get in? Girls, leave us for a minute," he said, winking at them. The girls walked away from Duke, squealing and causing a few heads to turn.

"I could say the same to you, Duke. What's a dice freak like you doing here?" Joey said in sheer confusion. Seto told him that this was an exclusive party for only rich and powerful people and the last time he saw Duke, he was neither.

Duke approached Joey and started to play the dog tag on the collar, "Dice Monsters has taken off in the past few months, and it's now played in over 45 countries." Duke dropped the dog tag and lightly touched beneath Joey's chin with his index finger. "So who here is your master mutt?" Duke said, his eyes scanning the room.

"No one is my master. I'm my own man," Joey said, grabbing Duke's wrist and throwing it off with all his force.

"Well, aren't you a fierce little mutt. I'll see you around then." Duke said sauntering off, his fan girls soon to follow.

Joey grumbled to himself. "Great, why of all people did dice boy have to see me like this? Now he's probably going to tell Tom, Dick, and Harry that I'm a bondage puppy."

Joey decided to find somewhere less crowded to linger, but not before loading up another plate, this time with deserts. He escaped from the main ball room into one of the darkened, vacant hallways. He found a good spot behind a large fern, and sat down. He munched on his dessert while mulling over things in his head. It was a good thing Kaiba hadn't been around at the time, otherwise things would have been all kinds of awkward. Of course it was Kaiba's fault he was in this situation in the first place.

Why did he ever agree to this? Didn't he hate Kaiba? By all rights he should! Treating him like some slave puppy, using his authority to get him to do whatever he wanted. And then putting him in this stupid outfit! As his self imposed aggravation began to build up, he grabbed the front of the collar around his neck, intending to tear it off. But when he felt the outline of the metal dragon tag against his palm, he hesitated. "What's wrong with me?" He questioned himself. "Why am I letting myself get pushed around by this guy?"

* * *

The car ride back to the Kaiba mansion was a quiet one. Mokuba was passed out asleep on Seto's lap -it was way past his bed time- and Joey was looking out the window with a melancholy face. He was glad that the party was finally over and really wanted to just go straight home, but he couldn't because his clothing was at Seto's place.

When they got to the mansion, Seto carried Mokuba up to his bedroom, and laid him in his bed. Joey found his clothing and quickly ripped the costume off, hoping to forget the night. He got dressed with a sigh, and tried leaving the house before Seto noticed he was gone.

"Where do you think you're going, Wheeler?" Seto asked while walking down the stairs, towards in front of the main door his coat flaring out in the process. He was back in his normal clothes too. "I don't remember telling you that you could leave."

Joey froze for a slight moment, dropping his hand form the door knob. "And since when do I have to listen to you, Kaiba?"

"Well, seeing as you're still wearing your collar," Seto noted coolly.

Joey hadn't even realized. At having Seto point it out to him, Joey made a fist, and something inside him finally snapped. "That's it! I've had enough of this crap! What do you even want from me? One day you are such an ass, ordering me around and making me wear ridiculous costumes and then some days you do crazy things like… touching me and…" Joey couldn't force himself to finish the sentence, but instead he grabbed Kaiba by the shirt, "Is my life some joke to you, Kaiba? Is that why you screw with me like this?" Joey let go of Seto, tossing him back. "Get this straight. I'm not your mutt, pup, or dog," Joey grabbed the collar still around his neck, and clenched it tight in his palm, "and I won't let you treat me like one anymore." Joey pulled hard on the band, and ripped it off, throwing it to the ground at Seto's feet. Joey's neck was throbbing in pain, but he was too filled with anger to care at the moment. Joey stormed out the mansion his head swirling with even more confusion than before.

"What the hell have I done? But Kaiba had it coming ever since that first night. He just treats me like a pet or toy. Just because he has money he has this idea he can do whatever the hell he wants." Joey stopped walking and punched the stone wall next to him, creating a little crack.

* * *

KD: It seems like there's just no hope for these two? Or is there? I call for divine intervention, by the power of Ra! Anyway, guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens next. Please review, we feel very unloved. (pout)


	11. Just Coffee?

KD: At last, another chapter up! Sorry for the wait. We're going as fast as we can, honest. Hopefully since it's christmas break, we'll be able to crank them out faster. So enjoy!

**Chapter Eleven: Just Coffee?**

_Songs for chapter: _

_Crush - David Archuleta_

Seto watched Joey leave the house; he looked down on the ground, and picked up the collar that Joey had thrown to the ground. He clenched it tight in his hand, heading to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. What was Wheeler's deal? Seto looked at the collar in his hand and started to lightly tap the dragon tag, watching it shimmer in the light. _"That idiot makes no sense; if he hated it so much then why did he agree? I don't treat him like some pet." _Seto grabbed his coffee and headed to the living room, dimming the light and sitting in his chair. He grabbed his laptop from the side table. He started to work on some programming, but kept getting coding errors because he couldn't concentrate. Abandoning all hope of work, he opened up his itunes and Bach, Mass in B minor started to resonate in the room, and Seto's eyes and mind began to drift away from the world.

* * *

"Seto, wake up." Seto's eyes wearily opened, his neck stiff from falling asleep on the chair. "Seto, were you here all night?" Mokuba handed him a cup of coffee that was still steaming.

"What time is it?" Seto grabbed the coffee while rolling his neck.

"It's six thirty-seven." Mokuba looked at his watch. Seto sipped his coffee, not getting out of the chair, looking dead tired. "Seto, what happened last night?"

Seto's eyes shot up for a minute. "Nothing happened last night."

"Liar," Mokuba lightly pouted. "Don't treat me like a child, Seto. I heard you two arguing last night." Mokuba snatched back the coffee cup from Seto.

Seto got up from his chair and stretched his legs. "Nothing happened, Mokuba, so just drop it."

"Fine…" Mokuba said watching Seto leave the living room. "Guess I have to do this the hard way." Mokuba pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

* * *

"Wheeler residence," Joey said after his house phone rang a few times. "Mokuba!" Joey exclaimed, "How did you get my house number?"

"I hacked into the employee registration system and got it from there, but that's not the point. I was going to beta a new Kaiba Corp game today, would you like to come with me?"

Joey smiled. Some alone time playing video games would be the perfect medicine. "Ya sure. Would love ta."

"Great. Meet you in an hour- I'll wait in front of Kaiba Corp for you." Mokuba hung up before Joey could say goodbye. "Now to get brother…"

* * *

Seto stepped out of the shower, drying his hair while picking out which gravity-defying coat to wear today. "Brother, we have an issue!" Mokuba said, opening Seto's door without knocking.

"What's wrong, Mokuba?' Seto said, noticing the urgency in his brother's voice. He clasped his hands on Mokuba's shoulders. "What is it?"

"Seto, I just got a call from the office. Someone is trying to hack into the Kaiba Corp computer system to play the new game."

"Someone thinks they could get past my firewall," Seto started. "Well, let's go see them try." As soon as Seto finished dressing. he and Mokuba left to Kaiba Corp. After getting out of the limo, Mokuba looked around to see if Joey arrived yet. His heart was still afraid that his plan would fail if Joey was in site. "Something wrong, Mokuba?" Seto knew his little brother all too well. Seto could tell by Mokuba's body language something was off.

"Just worried about our hacker," Mokuba lied. "I've got to use the restroom, Seto. I'll meet you upstairs in a minute." Seto looked at him, with serious eyes, knowing that something was wrong, but walked off anyways without his brother.

A few minutes later, Mokuba saw Joey weaving through the crowded streets. "Hey!" Joey jumped and waved at Mokuba making sure he noticed he was there.

Mokuba waved back with his best fake smile. "Hi, Joey! Ready to play the game?"

"Sure am. What kind of game is it? I'll beat them all," he said, doing a lame victory pose.

"Uhhh….I want to surprise you?" Mokuba said, trying to think of something fast.

"Oh, ok. Let's go!" Joey walked into Kaiba Corp, following Mokuba. Joey walked down the hallway he knew all too well, the hallway to Seto's office. Joey's face soon turned quite serious. "What are we doing here? This is Kaiba's office?" Joey exclaimed.

"Seto's not here Joey," he said, all too quickly, "I just need to get something for the game in his office."

Joey looked at him suspiciously. "Ok, Mokuba, if you say so." The two walked into the office, and Seto's gaze snapped up as the door opened, and both teens stiffened in recognition. Mokuba could feel the tension in the room, and it was worse than he could have imagined. "You lied to me, Mokuba," Joey finally said, attempting to leave, but Mokuba wouldn't let him.

"No, you can't leave." Mokuba said his arms spread wide trying to block the door to the best of his abilities. "I know something happened between the two of you last night. And I'm not leaving until the two of you talk it out. You are both important to me, and it hurts me that you two are acting like ten year olds. So no one leaves this room until something is figured out." Seto and Joey still said nothing to each other, but their eyes were doing all the talking. After ten minutes past of eye glaring and silence Mokuba left the room. "Fine I'll leave, but you two better talk, and I'll be standing in front of the door to make sure you don't leave." Mokuba closed the door behind him. "Those two better talk."

* * *

Mokuba's exit did nothing to ease the pressure between the two stubborn boys. Seto eventually got tired of the pointless stare down and went to his desk, pulling out his laptop. If he was going to be stuck there, he could at least try doing something productive. He only managed to open it about an inch or so when Joey's hand slammed down on it.

"Don't even think about it, Kaiba," Joey said. "If I gotta suffer then so do you."

Seto's glare was borderline homicidal. "Wheeler, I'm going to say this only once. If you touch my belongings without my permission again, there will be consequences."

"Yeah, yeah, fire will fall from the sky, puppies will die, I get it," Joey said sarcastically. "Look, it's obvious neither of us is getting out of here any time soon if we just ignore each other, so let's just hurry up and get through this so I can go home."

"I have no interest in having a therapy session with you, Wheeler," Seto said, folding his arms across his chest. "As far as I'm concerned this is a waste of my time."

"Well, that's too bad, cuz I got several bones to pick with you, rich boy," Joey said, pointing at him. "I still haven't forgotten about what you did to me, and I don't think I'll ever understand why. All I know is it's driving me nuts."

"I don't see why it should," Seto replied bluntly.

"You molested me, you ass," Joey seethed. "And for what? Were you just trying to prove how friggin superior you are?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Seto replied.

"Oh, lemme guess. It was some sort of test, right? Well, Kaiba, I hope I surpassed your infinitely low expectations of me," Joey said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't forget who you are talking to, Wheeler. No matter what the situation, as long as you are working under me, I am your employer."

"I don't care anymore," Joey said. "I'm speaking my mind. No job is worth this much humiliation."

"What makes you think I was trying to humiliate you?" Seto asked soberly.

"Well, let's see, ya dress me up in a dog bondage outfit, but before that ya helped me out when I twisted my ankle, then you did… THAT to me, you insulted my family, but you let me have a job…." Joey rubbed his hands against his head ferociously. "Ngh! I don't understand!"

"Understand what, Wheeler?" Seto snapped, growing impatient and waiting for a point to be made.

"Anything!" Joey exclaimed with exasperation. "These past months have been so screwy I can't even wrap my own head around it."

"So why stick with it for so long?" Seto demanded, though not so harshly. "Just give up and find something else."

"Oh yeah, that's what you WANT me to do," Joey fumed. "But I can't do that. I can't just give up, it's against my nature. But I don't understand why you're always making things so hard for me."

"How have I made things difficult?" asked Kaiba. "If memory serves me, I have not once asked you to do anything impossible or unreasonable."

_"Our definitions of unreasonable are clearly at odds here," _Joey thought, aggravated.

"You said you were going to say what's on your mind, Wheeler," Kaiba said contemptuously. "But I can tell there is still something else bothering you that you seem to have troubles expressing."

"I just…" Joey started strong but his words caught in his throat and he turned red with what looked to be embarrassment. "I just… don't know how to see you anymore."

"Why should it make any difference the way you see me?" Seto inquired.

This statement made Joey confused and a little hurt. It was like no matter what he said, Seto just didn't care. "Ya told me to be honest, why can't you return the favor for once? Mokuba wanted us to do this for a reason, so if nothing else, do it for him."

Seto's face looked rather disgruntled at this, knowing Joey was tugging at his one weakness. But he was a master at turning things around. "What is it that you want me to say?"

"I wanna know why you hired me, why there are days when you're not as big of an asshole as you usually are, why you've been putting me in all these awkward situations," Joey listed off.

"I hired you because I needed a competent employee," Seto ended it like that, not even recognizing the last two questions being asked.

"Gah!" Joey exclaimed with a sigh. "Fine Kaiba, I give up." He raised his arms up in surrender while plopping down in a chair near the corner of the room by the window.

It figured. Joey knew that this plan of Mokuba's wasn't going to work the moment he stepped through that door. Kaiba was a selfish, overprivileged narcissist who just didn't give a damn about other people's problems. Why couldn't he see what Joey was going through right now? Sure, Joey wasn't great at articulating his thoughts, but still… As much as he didn't want to, ideas of quitting kept rising up in his mind. Being around Seto was driving him crazy, and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take. The worst part of it was, it wasn't the sort of crazy Joey was used to. He couldn't remember turning red so many times, feeling so awkward, or his body acting weird when Seto looked him dead in the eye.

Before, Joey had always seen Seto as just a rich snob. However, he felt that in these past couple months he was able to get a glimpse of something more, something different. He wasn't sure when he had started seeing it. He tried to backtrack to the time when he had started seeing Seto differently. The first thing that came to his mind was the day he had twisted his ankle. Seto, rather than humiliate Joey, actually came to his aid. It was like all the hard, sharp edges around the great Seto Kaiba had softened and he was almost human.

That didn't matter though. He could not forgive or forget what had happened in that very office. Joey hated how vividly he remembered it, all of it. Seto's hands on him, his tongue against Joey's neck, and the feeling of helplessness that Joey had felt throughout the entire thing. He had wanted so hard to fight back, but he had unknowingly fallen into submission. What bothered him the most though, more than letting the blue eyed jerk rule over him, was a fact he'd been trying to ignore this whole time; he wanted to experience that feeling again, from the Seto only he knew.

_"It's no use," _Joey thought staring at the window at the darkening city below. _"I don't know how it happened but, somehow… I'm… Kaiba and… but there's no way I could tell him that! He'd laugh at me, or worse yet he'd kick me out of the country. He could do it."_ Little did Joey realize, his thoughts were projecting loudly through his body motions and from Seto's point of view it looked as if he was having a seizure.

"Don't die on my floor over there, Wheeler." Seto said, causing Joey to stop his spazzing. "Think fast," Seto said, throwing a pink object at Joey. It startled Joey, almost dropping the object, but he instinctively caught it in both hands. Joey looked down and saw a bubblegum pink flip phone. Joey opened it and saw the wallpaper was a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and three numbers were already installed in the phone, Seto cell, Mokuba's cell, and Seto's private office extension number. Joey really didn't know what to think of this action. It was making his head spin again; Seto actually did something nice, again.

"What's this phone for?" Joey said, still staring at it with confused eyes.

Seto lightly laughed, "It's Mokuba's old phone, there is still six months left on it." Joey was confused why Mokuba had a pink phone, but decided it was best not to ask.

"What am I s'posed ta do with this? Am I s'posed ta keep it?"

Seto looked at Joey incredulously. "You use it to call people, Wheeler, and whether you keep it or not is up to you."

"Thanks for the phone," Joey said pocketing it. "But something is telling me we still haven't finished Mokuba's request yet." Seto shot him annoyed look, but Joey still continued, "Listen Kaiba, I think well...um…I might be seeing you…well…differently." Seto's head peaked up slightly in interest. "Well maybe, um…you are not as big of a jerk I always took ya for…..I don't mind being 'round ya so much, when you're not treating me like your dog." Secretly though, all the dog references didn't bother Joey so much anymore, as long as they were from Kaiba alone. Joey thought he saw a genuine smile from Kaiba, but it disappeared as soon as it was made. Seto walked over to Joey and Joey was not sure what to expect, so he planned for the worst.

Much to Joey's surprise, Seto placed his hand on Joey's head. "I guess we can both agree on something after all."

Joey felt his cheeks heating up. Normally he would want to smack Seto's hand away for once again inadvertently treating him like a canine. He also noticed that his heart beat had become somewhat irregular, but he did his best to ignore it. It was still a little vague to him, what it was that was going on between the two of them, and he was sure Seto wasn't going to help him figure it out any time soon. Joey wanted to give this a try though. It was the only way he believed he would be able to work through his confused emotions. Plus… maybe Kaiba wasn't such a bad guy after all. I mean, he did give Joey a phone for no reason at all. So Joey wanted ot return the favor somehow, so as not to feel indebted.

"So, listen, I was thinking…" Joey began, retreating out from under Seto's hand. "Since it was your birthday recently, I thought maybe I could take ya out somewhere. I mean, I know you're not big on celebrating but a birthday isn't something ta be ignored. It's an important day for everyone."

"Where would you be able to take me, Wheeler?" Seto asked skeptically.

Joey said, doing a front fist clench and grinning confidently. "I'm glad you asked."

Roughly thirty minutes later, the two were sitting in Seto's limo in front of Burger Land. "You've got to be joking, Wheeler," Seto said, looking disdainfully at the low class diner. "If you think that I'm going to step foot in that place, then you obviously are dumber than I took you for."

"Hey, I'm trying ta be nice. Ya could at least try and accept my offer. Besides, this is really all I can afford," he admitted sheepishly.

"I refuse," Seto said blatantly. "However, if you insist on this pointless endeavor, there's a coffee shop a few blocks down from here that even you should be able to afford."

"Just coffee?" Joey asked. "Are ya sure? Couldn't I still treat ya to a burger on the side?" Seto glared at him and you could almost see his imaginary puppy dog ears droop. "Okay, you win," Joey said, but then pointed at Seto and boldly stated, "But you're getting a sandwich with that coffee."

Seto folded his arms and turned away from the other male. "Whatever, Wheeler."

* * *

KD: Hooray! Reconciliation is a beautiful thing. So, now that Seto and Joey are a couple, things should get easier, right? BWAHAHAHAHA! :P Hope you enjoyed, and stayed tuned! ^_^


	12. Begging for a Bone

KD: Hey peoples! Sorry about taking the chapter down shortly after putting it up. But after going through it again we saw a bunch of mistakes and wanted to make it better. So here it is, renewed and ready to go! Enjoy!

Again, referring back to chapter one (and the beginning of chapter two) will help this make more sense...

**Chapter Twelve: Begging for a Bone**

_Songs for this chapter:_

_Our Lady Peace- Do you like it?_

**-END LONG FLASHBACK-**

That was how he ended up under Seto Kaiba's thumb. Joey thought that after that, things would get easier. Yeah, that was wishful thinking on his part. Not long after that Seto went into a two-week seclusion period where Joey had been unable to get in contact with him. Even when he tried coming over to his house he'd lock himself in his study and not come out. Mokuba had explained that Seto was in designing mode, that this was completely normal, and that it would be over once Seto completed his project. This didn't make Joey feel any better about being ignored, but he had long since learned Seto always put his business (and his brother) first.

Joey, of course, never breathed a syllable of his current involvement with the Kaiba Corp. president to his friends. As far as they knew, he was just an employee working at Kaiba Land, and he wanted to keep it that way; which is why both did their best to avoid each other in school during the rare occasions Seto actually made an appearance. Funny…. That was probably one of the few things they agreed on.

Looking down Joey could truly see that all the euphoria that he had from Seto touch left as quick as it had come. His eyes then drifted to his belt that was tossed upon the floor he got off of the bed for a brief minute to put his belt back on, but was not sure where to go from there.

Joey was trying to decide whether he should stay and wait in hopes that Seto might return (just so that he could rip Seto a new one), or if he should just give up and leave. He laid back down onto the bed and sighed, closing his eyes. _"Kaiba's such a pain in the butt,"_ he thought tiredly.

Joey woke up when he felt someone pulling on his hair. "Stay still Joey," Mokuba said, making small braids in Joey's hair.

"Mokuba, what do you think you're doing?" Joey tried swatting at Mokuba's hands to stop him from messing up his hair.

"But Seto will love it. It will go great with your costume too," Joey looked down and saw his bondage Halloween costume, collar, tail, and all.

"How did I get into this again?" Joey quickly shot off the bed knocking Mokuba over. Seto came out of the darkness in the corner of the room, grabbing the leash hanging from Joey's collar.

"I did it." Seto said, pulling Joey in closer to him.

"Kaiba, when did you get here?" Joey looked around the room noticing that Mokuba was gone, it was only him and Seto. "And where did Mokuba go?"

Seto lightly touched Joey's face, "Joey, Mokuba doesn't need to be here right now," there was a lust in Kaiba's voice.

"Did…did...you just call me Joey?" He stuttered out trying to step back from Seto.

Seto pulled hard on the leash, pulling Joey back to him. "You were a very good dog, waiting for your master."

Joey pulled again to Seto, inching closer to his face, only to abruptly fall to the ground.

Joey woke up again, on the floor. He stood up quickly looking around the room, patting down his hair. It was all just a dream. Joey sighed in relief, "That was one crazy dream. I wonder what it was all 'bout." Joey got back on the bed, resting his head against the headboard, trying hard to not fall back asleep, but his mind kept wandering back towards Kaiba.

_"You were such a good dog waiting for your master,"_ the brunette's voice echoed in his mind.

"That's it, I can't stand this!" He quickly stood up. "I'm going." He said, clenching his fist. "I'm not some dog waiting for his master to come home." Joey walked to the door and opened the door with vigor.

Much to Joey's surprise there was Seto standing in the door way as if he was about to open the door himself. Seto has a brief moment of surprise, his eyes wide with shock seeing Joey was going to leave. However, that shocked face instantly disappeared and turned into his usual grin. "Going somewhere, Wheeler? I don't remember telling you that you could leave, let alone get dressed." Seto leaned again the doorway with his arms crossed peering into Joey's eyes. He noticed that Joey's face was turning red, but not the one of pleasure, but of a fuming anger for far less pleasurable reasons than earlier.

"Well, Kaiba, if you wanted me to stay, you should have said something. Or you could have not showed up to the meeting! Ever think about that? It's always work work work! Can't you think of anything else!" Joey fumed out at Seto, talking so fast, Seto could only understand bits and pieces with the accent coming out thick as the anger rose. Joey started to pant, out of breath, glaring at Seto, hoping it would add some extra effect. However, Seto seemed unaffected by the blowup. He stays stoic and cool against the door frame.

"Such a noisy little mutt you are," Seto said, moving out of the doorway as if telling Joey to just go. "I don't have time to deal with people like you right now." Seto said nonchalantly. These words hurt Joey a little bit, made him feel wounded.

"Hey, whatch ya mean people like me?" Joey snapped back, trying to get something out of Seto, anything out of him. Seto just stood there, obviously ticked off more than usual. Joey noted this and walked out the room, lightly bumping into Seto, and softly saying, "Remember you gave me a cell phone, so give me a reason to use it." Joey tilted his head down and disappeared out of Seto's sight.

Joey had every intention of leaving. He did. But his footsteps, which had started out long and purposeful, dwindled into reluctant shuffling until he came to a halt in the vast hallway.

_No… he couldn't let it end like this. Who knew how long it would be until he saw him again?_ **Ah, who cares? Let him be wrapped up in his precious work.** _But he really did seem tired there, even though he was acting like he wasn't._ **Anybody would get tired from acting like a grade-A jerk all day.** _Maybe if Joey just talk to him…_ **Since when has that ever worked?** _Ya never know; first time for everything, right?_

Knowing he was going to regret this decision, he did an about face and went back to the room he had just left. When he arrived back, Kaiba was sitting on the bed working on his laptop, his long, nimble fingers dancing across the keyboard at a pace Joey knew he could never reach if his life depended on it. He glanced up only once when Joey entered the room before returning his eyes to the computer screen.

"You're still here?"

"Why so surprised? You're the one who brought me here," Joey reiterated.

"That doesn't mean I want you to stay," Kaiba said derisively.

"Well too bad, I'm staying!" Joey snapped back heatedly. He thought he saw the corner of Seto's mouth twitch but it came and went in the blink of an eye. "Look… can't we just talk or something?"

"Talking is for people who have something in common," Seto replied, fingers never slowing their typing and Joey wonder if the guy was writing a novel or something. "But if you want to make yourself useful, then fetch me some coffee."

Joey winced. He knew that he and Kaiba were almost nothing alike. Seto was rich, powerful, and important. He was everything Joey was not. Joey hated how inferior Seto always made him feel, not just in words, but also just being the way he was.

"Listen you!" Joey said marching over to Kaiba. "I'm not some servant that bends to your every will. If you want your coffee get it yourself."

Seto immediately stopped clacking away at the keyboard to look up at Joey. Seto noticed a harshness in Joey's eyes that he had never seen before. It was an uncharacteristic gravity that implied there was something deeper to the blond than what was usually put off. An unexpected edge of bitterness. Seto was taken aback by this a bit, but didn't let his icy stare show any signs of it. He returned to him computer clacking away, not saying a word to Joey.

"What's this, Kaiba? You don't have some lame comeback for me?" Joey said with a mocking voice.

Steam was rising in Seto's head. "Fine, Wheeler, you can stay, but if you bother me for even one second over your pointless problems, I'll have you removed by force." Joey's face was shocked, his jaw dropped wide open. This was the Seto that came out on ever rare occasion, the Seto whose heart was not covered in ice. Joey smiled to himself and sat on the bed next to Kaiba, he was trying to sneak glances at the computer to see what Kaiba was doing. "What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" he said turning his head to look at him, but still nimbly typing away. Joey's face turned red, but he didn't say a word, remembering what Seto said to him moments ago. Seto chuckled to himself. "Such a good dog you are," he said in a taunting voice, as if he was trying to get Joey riled up.

This comment made Joey forget completely about keeping quiet. "I'm not your dog."

"Then why is it you keep coming to me for a bone?" Seto asked pointedly. "In case you haven't realized, unlike you, I have a life and responsibilities that are more important than catering to your every whim."

"I'm not asking for anything like that," Joey said defensively. "But is it a crime to ask for just a little attention every once in a while?"

"Save the whining for when I have you on the floor."

That did it. Joey grabbed the front of Kaiba's shirt. "Now look here you…"

The look in Seto's eyes made him freeze. He had forgotten, Seto hated being touched without consent. Snap! The sound of Kaiba abruptly shutting his laptop echoed through the empty room. With his other hand, Kaiba grabbed Joey's wrist tightly forcing him to let go of his shirt before flinging him back onto the bed. He calmly set the laptop down onto the floor to save it from getting damaged. Joey was taken by surprised and tried to sit back up, but Kaiba's hands were back on him faster than his Blue Eyes's white lightning attack, forcing him down onto the bed.

"Alright, Wheeler, you got your wish," Kaiba spoke in a low rumble that was anything but kind or loving. "You now have my full attention." Kaiba had a wicked grin on his face, full of lust that surprised and confused Joey. He knew he wanted attention, but not in this way. Joey took a deep gulp not known what to expect from Seto. "What's wrong, Wheeler? You got my attention. Isn't this what you wanted?" Seto's entire body was hovering over Joey's on the bed, creating a deep tension of desire and passion.

"Who ever said i wanted your attention this way, Kaiba?" Joey shot back, but in reality Joey did want to feel Seto's touch again, try to understand his body's own feelings to it better. Joey struggled to free himself. _"If I wanted to I could easily get Kaiba off of me but I don't want him to learn anything that far back about me." _Joey thought. _"If we are going to do this, then I want to be on top. I wanna show Kaiba I'm not his submissive dog, but how do i do that without hurting him?"  
_

Seto lifted his head up, lightly touching Joey's cheek moving slowly down his jaw line, leaving tingling trails where ever they brushed, making Joey shiver with expectation, wanting more pleasure. Seto's hands were soon on Joey's jacket, yanking it off without caring if it ripped. After his jacket was once again on the floor, Joey knew what to expect, but wanted to shake things up a bit. He placed his own hands on Seto's coat. He looked deep into Seto's eyes, showing him that he did NOT need his approval in order to show some form of intimacy back. Seto, surprisingly enough, allowed Joey the pleasure of removing his jacket, but as soon as it was off, Seto took off his own shirt, showing off his masculine, but slender, body to Joey. A cocky grin was on Seto's face while Joey stared at his body, causing Joey to take off his own shirt in rebellion.

True to his word, Seto was indeed giving his puppy his full attention. Not even thoughts of work strayed into his mind as he focused on his one goal: to break his puppy's resilience and let him know who was in charge. In a way, it was similar to the duel's they shared previously, will against will. Except this time there were no cards involved. The one thing Seto would ensure remain the same, is that he came out on top, always.

Both of them were leaned up on the bed in a dead stare down. Joey moved towards Seto to try to get on top of him, but as soon as he was, Seto flipped him over, as a statement to show dominance in whatever kind of relationship this was. This angered Joey, so he Irritated, Joey aimed for Seto's belt in vengeance, taking it off so fast, Seto didn't realize it was off till he heard the metal clank on the floor. Joey saw how much this angered Seto, but didn't care. Joey was trying to make a point to Seto; he was not a dog, and not begging for a bone, he was the one that was going to make Seto beg for a bone. Seto knew this, and fought back just as hard, yanking Joey's belt off and unbuttoning his pants, sticking his hand deep in. Joey's face flushed, and Seto knew that he had full control once again. In no time Joey's pants and boxers were fully off, and Joey could see the total satisfaction on Seto's face.

Seto enjoyed the challenge that was Joey Wheeler and in this situation Joey didn't let him down. He could see how hard Joey was trying to be on top, which made Seto want the mutt even more. However, he knew to have some sense of restraint, despite his bodies urges. There would be more than enough time in the future for the two, so why rush it now, all he wanted to do was enjoy Joey in the now.

Seto started to move his hand up and down going harsher and harsher down on Joey's warmth. Joey held in every pleasureful moan in resistance to Seto's bold moves. _"I can't let him get the best of me,"_ Joey thought in gritted frustration. _"If I do, I'll never hear the end of it."_ He noticed Seto shift, and move lower down on his body. Joey felt the absence of touch on his other self and began to sit up with the intention of gaining back control of the situation. However, suddenly the coolness of Seto's mouth met Joey's warmth and it felt like nothing Joey ever felt before. This move made Joey give out a loud moan of total pleasure and defeat to Seto. Seto was moving oh so slowly on Joey getting out every sound of submission he could get. This show of weakness frustrated Joey, but he could not do anything because his body didn't want to disrupt the others progress, it was too entranced by the pleasure. Seto stopped and moved back up on Joey's body, his hand once again doing all the work.

Seto's face was once again next to Joey's ear, lightly nibbling on the lobe, whispering, "See? You always come back for a bone."

Joey wanted to call him an ass or bastard, but all the pleasure he was receiving was too great for him to handle. Soon Finally, Joey found felt relief once again, all the pressure building up finally let loose. With tired eyes and flushed cheeks, Joey looked at Seto, seeing him lick the salty essence off his fingers with sensual pleasure. Joey's body was too tired to move and Seto notice that and laid next to Joey in bed. Seto noticed Joey's exhaustion and chose to lie down next to him, letting him rest until he was back to his hyper self once again.

* * *

KD: And that's scene! Happy belated New Year everyone. We're really hoping to get more reviews in the future. Even though we have people tell us in one chapter that we're doing great, when we don't get any (or very few) reviews for the chapters that follow, that tells us we're doing something wrong. Just food for thought. Until next time!


	13. Pray to the Blue Eyes!

KD: New chapter! Hope everyone had a good holiday.

**Chapter Thirteen: Pray to the Blue Eyes!**

_Chapter Song:_

_Brick in the Wall- Pink Floyd or Korn (your choice)_

The next morning Seto awoke to find his arm around the blonde teen snuggled up against his torso, mouth hanging open, dead to the world. Seto's eyes softened a margin as he unconsciously ran his fingers through the thick blonde hair. "He really is like a puppy," Seto thought almost begrudgingly. Kaiba checked his watched and slid away from the mutt who stirred a little but mumbled some garble about Kaiba stealing his waffles and turned over in his sleep. This caused Seto's lips to quirk as he got dressed. Once he had dressed himself, he reached down to pick up his laptop and noticed Joey's phone on the floor next to his pants. He stared at it thoughtfully for a moment before straightening up and leaving the room.

* * *

Joey rolled over, falling off the bed hitting the hard floor. He rubbed his head where he felt a bump starting to take form. "Where am I again?" Joey said, looking around. "Right, I fell asleep here after Seto…Gah, don't think 'bout that, Joey. Where is the jerk anyways?" Joey stood up and started looking around the room. There was a cart with some food on it that looked like waffles. "Waffles?" Joey said confused, "wait a minute, didn't I have a dream with waffles in it….oh god…don't tell me I talk in my sleep and Seto heard it. That sneaky bastard." Joey mumbled under his breath while scratching his head. "What time is it anyways? I have school today, don't I?" Joey continued to think out loud. He saw his cell phone on the floor next to his pants, and noticed it was buzzing while blinking '1 missed message'. Joey picked up his phone and held it in his mouth while quickly throwing his clothing on.

From Seto

To Joey

Received 5:47 AM

Looks like the puppy finally decided to wake up. I brought you you're waffles back, so you better not complain about being hungry. Don't be too late for school, I don't want you failing worse that you already are because you can't handle it in bed yet.

Joey slammed the phone shut. "Stupid Kaiba," he said with mouths full of waffle. "What time was it anyways?" Joey angrily opened the phone, "7:27! Oh man, I'm gonna be late." Joey dashed out of the room but slowly started to slow down. "How do I get to school from here?" Joey said, walking around trying to figure out where he was, but seeing only tall skyscrapers in every direction. "This is going to be a long day…" Joey thought to himself.

When Joey had finally managed to make it to school, first period was over and he barely managed to be on time for second. "So glad you could join us, Mr. Wheeler," his teacher said, pushing up his glasses in a clearly disapproving manner. "Please take a seat so I may begin the lesson."

Joey sat down, gingerly though, as his body was still sore from last night. Talk about embarrassing, when technically, he and Seto have never even…. Well, done the deed as some people called it. Whenever Seto was feeling intimate, he usually just tortured Joey by pleasuring him into submission.

He felt a pang of annoyance but tried to distract himself from thoughts of the brunette multi billionaire by actually paying attention to what the teacher was writing on the board. When lunchtime rolled around, Joey didn't feel much like socializing, and he didn't want to chance his friends catching on to anything. Joey could freely admit he sucked at hiding things, especially from his friends. He was just one of those heart-on-his-sleeve guys.

He went to an isolated area behind one of the school buildings, gathered up a bunch of rocks, and began chucking them at the trunk of a tree, imagining Kaiba's face on it.

"Problems in billionaire paradise?" Joey heard a harsh British voice from behind him. Joey turned around to see Bakura standing, arms crossed and obviously not happy to be there. "Don't try to deny it, I know Kaiba is, for some reason, interested in a nothing like you." He stated icily.

Joey sighed at this. He was hoping to cover it up, but it's hard to get things past Bakura. "Yeah, Bakura? What's it to ya?" Joey asked, still annoyed at Seto for last night.

"Someone just thought you would like some help is all," Bakura said, adding more spite than usual to 'someone'. "After all, it's obvious you don't want you friends finding out that you have been playing pup to the billion-dollar boy. Are you housebroken yet?" Bakura asked slyly.

"That jerk thinks he can toy with me like that. Taunting me with waffles. He is so aggravating!" Joey yelled, but then quickly clamped his mouth shut remembering he was at school.

Bakura started to laugh at him, a dark, mocking laugh, "You seriously expected to be able to dominate someone like Kaiba." Bakura smiled, "No wonder Kaiba finds you intriguing; he liked the little puppy that barked back." Hearing the mocking from Bakura angered Joey even more. "But I can see why he would keep it a secret. You would start being kidnapped more than Mokuba." Bakura's laugh was even more menacing now than before.

"Mokuba…That's it, Bakura, you're a life saver!" Joey exclaimed with newfound enthusiasm and started to jog off, forgetting about throwing stones at his Seto tree. Bakura had a brief moment of confusion to Joey's reaction to his comment, but it passed as quickly as it came.

* * *

Several hours later, when Joey was on break from his work, Mokuba approached him in the locker rooms. "Hey, Mokuba, thanks for answering my call," Joey said gratefully.

"No problem. So what's up?" Mokuba asked.

"Would it make me sound like a jerk if I said I was hoping you could help me get one over your brother?" Joey asked after taking a drink of water from the water fountain.

"Why would I do something like that?" Mokuba asked in confusion.

"Please just say you'll help me." Joey begged, his hands clasped together.

Mokuba sighed, "Whatever Seto did, it could not have been that bad."

"You obviously don't know your brother very well," Joey grumbled under his breath.

But Mokuba heard him. "Listen, I know my brother can be unsociable sometimes. But he's got a lot of responsibilities to worry about. He's the head of a multibillion corporation. People expect a lot from him. So of course there are gonna be days where he's cold and distant towards people, even me."

"Ya, but it still doesn't give him the right to do that," he muttered softly clenching his fists.

"Let's talk about something else, Joey, like your latest marks." Mokuba lifted up a paper that oddly looked like Joey's last test. "18 points out of 50, Joey, really?"

Joey's face dropped and he tried to snatch the paper from Mokuba, "How'd ya get that?"

"You dropped it on the floor." Mokuba said, folding up the test and putting it in his pocket. "I suggest you get a tutor and fast with grades like these. Otherwise you'll be stuck in high school forever."

"I don't have the dollars to afford a tutor," Joey started, "and Tea makes no sense when she's 'splaining stuff to me."

Mokuba started to laugh, "You could always ask my brother for help. Maybe I should show him this test to brace himself."

"Ya right, like I would ask him. It just gives me two more hours a day to be mocked on something new," Joey said with a sigh.

"But Joey, it would also help you become better friends with my brother… maybe," He pointed out, holding back a laugh. "I'll go ask him for you then." Mokuba ran off, the test in tow.

"Wait, Mokuba!" Joey yelled, trying to run after him, but then saw the time on his watched and knew he was going to be late if he didn't leave soon.

* * *

"Brother, are you busy?" Mokuba asked, knocking on Seto's office door before stepping in.

"What is it, Mokuba?" Seto was typing on his computer as usual. "I have a meeting to go to soon."

"I wanted to show you something," he said, placing the exam on the table. Seto picked up the paper gingerly and examined it.

"If you are trying to prove to me how dumb Wheeler is, I already knew that," Seto stated dryly, dropping that paper.

"Brother, you are so dense," Mokuba said quietly under his breath. "Don't you think, with scores like these, Joey needs a tutor?" Mokuba fought back.

"Since when do you care about Wheeler's test scores?" Seto asked, putting away his laptop in his brief case.

"Since I figured you could tutor him. Joey can't afford a tutor, and I think it would be good for BOTH of you to do it," Mokuba shouted as Seto was leaving, emphasizing the 'both'.

"Teaching Wheeler how to do better in school would be like teaching a one legged man to win the 100-meter dash," Seto stated smartly as he approached the door.

"Please, Seto?" pleaded Mokuba. "Joey's my friend and I don't want to see him held back a year. And you're the smartest person I know. If anyone could help Joey, it's you, big brother."

Seto closed his eyes in annoyance. "I'll think about it," Seto finally conceded, not wanting to make any promises on the matter.

Mokuba smiled, because that usually, more often than not, meant 'yes'.

* * *

A couple days had passed since the younger Kaiba brother had stolen his test and Joey had heard no word from Seto or Mokuba, which was somewhat of a relief. Kaiba must have refused to be Joey's tutor which was perfectly a-okay with Joey. Even if Kaiba was at the top of his class, Joey would just feel awkward and the sessions would give Kaiba every opportunity to take a shot at his intelligence.

After he was done with work for the day, he was ready to go home and hit the hay, notwithstanding the fact that the extra homework assignment his teacher had assigned him was due the next day. He had tried writing up an interpretation, but he just wasn't good with this sort of thing. He exited Kaiba Land, wanting to get out before the night masses began flooding the place.

A limo was driving past Joey and, much to his surprise, a little boy was popping out of the sunroof, "Joey! Hey, Joey!" He yelled, waving at him with his goofy smile.

"There you are!" Joey marched towards the limo. "Give me my test back!" He pointed accusingly and waved his arm around.

Mokuba's head dropped out of view and he opened the limo door to allow Joey to get in the car. "I'm sorry, Joey, I don't have it." He signaled the driver to continue.

"Wah! Whach' ya mean you don't have it? I need to get that test signed by my dad or I'll get detention for a month and won't be able to work," Joey said, his head drooping.

"Joey, I just said I don't have it. Seto has it." Mokuba replied with a sheepish laugh.

"Kaiba! Why does he still have it?" Joey said, as if all the life was sucked out of him. "Guess I'll have to suck it up and go get it from him."

"Well, you'll have to wait until Seto comes home from work," Mokuba told him once they arrived at the mansion. "Bu-ut, until then, how does an ice cream sundae with walnuts sound?"

"That sounds good to me!" Joey said without pretense.

The two went to the kitchen and pulled out the five flavors of ice cream, ten flavors of syrups, seven varieties of nuts and, of course, whipped cream for topping. In no time the kitchen counter was a mess and the two boys had each a mountain of ice cream topped with so many different things it would make a dental hygienist cringe.

As soon as the two started digging in, they heard the front door slam shut, "Mokuba, I'm home." Seto said heading towards the kitchen."What do you want for…" Seto stopped when he entered the kitchen to see his brother and Joey with chocolate and caramel covered faces. Joey took another scoop from his bowl and swallowed it. "Mokuba, how many times do I have to tell you, no sweets before dinner." A maid came in and started to clean up the mess in the kitchen, causing Seto to move his attention towards Joey. "Come with me, mutt," Kaiba said to Joey, leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs to his home office.

Joey took one last bite of his ice cream before getting off the stool and following Kaiba upstairs. Seto was sitting at his desk, hands crossed on the table. "Listen, Kaiba, I want my test back. So hand it over." Joey said, pulling out a chair and sitting across from him.

"No, you listen, Wheeler. I can't have any of my employees with grades this low. Therefore, every day after work, I'll be tutoring you for two hours here. Starting now." Joey clenched his teeth and wanted to object. If his tutor was anyone but Kaiba, he would happily accept it, but he knew if he rejected Kaiba, it also meant the unemployment route.

"Fine, Kaiba," Joey spat out, taking his books out of his backpack. Heart of darkness, the book he was supposed to interpret, was sitting on top.

Kaiba grabbed the book. "Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad, I read this book when I was twelve. What's the assignment?" Seto started to thumb through the book casually.

"I have to give an interpretation of the three levels of darkness," Joey said with a sigh, "But I don't understand this book for the life of me. All I understand as that this guy is on a boat."

Seto sighed and started to explain the book in great detail for Joey, which what quite a pain for him because half of the time Joey was going "Wha?" of "Nyah?" to his explanations.

But after about an hour it was starting to pay off. Slowly Joey was starting to somewhat grasp the deeper meaning. "Wow… I think I'm actually starting to understand this whole darkness thing," Joey said scribbling down a few notes on a piece of paper. "Now I'll have something to add to my report."

Seto deftly snatched the paper from Joey's hand and glanced over it, ignoring the blonde's loud protesting. "Wheeler, what is this?"

"Well, that's the report I was going to turn in."

Seto closed his eyes as if praying to his Blue-Eyes White Dragon for patience before taking the paper in his hands and ripping it right down the middle.

"What's that for, Kaiba!" Joey shot up out of the chair and grabbed Seto's jacket, "I worked hard on that. Why'd ya have to go and rip it up?"

Seto grabbed Joey's wrists, "A third grader has better writing than you. You are writing it over again." Seto tossed Joey to the side, and went to go fetch his laptop, and a cup of coffee. Seto placed the laptop on Joey's lap. "Here, use this, but if you break it you will regret it." Seto hovered over Joey, correcting his grammar and spelling every few minutes, and every once in awhile scolding him about pressing the keys on the keyboard too hard.

"Ta-da," Joey said, finally finished. He stretched with relief. "One paper complete. Thanks for letting me borrow the laptop, Kaiba," Joey said, shutting it closed too hard.

"It will be the last time, too," Kaiba replied testily, snatching his laptop back. "Do you have any other homework that will take over 3 hours to explain to you?"

Joey shook his head no. "Now about the test you have of mine…" but before he could finish, Seto handed him the failed test. "Thanks, Kaiba," Joey said, getting up and leaving the office.

"Don't bother thanking me," Seto commented, "Until your grades improve."

* * *

KD: Nyaw! Seto you DO care! He wants his puppy to be smart and graduate. Will their relationship move to the next step with all this extra time spent together? Are we really going anywhere? Sure we are! You just don't know it yet. So stay tuned until next time!


	14. Quick, grab it!

**Chapter Fourteen: Quick, grab it!**

_Songs for chapter:_

_The Beatles- I want to hold your hand_

The next day, Joey left school a full hour after it had gotten out. His teacher had held him back after class, demanding who he had paid to write his paper for him. It took much referencing from the book and defining his interpretations before the teacher was convinced that it was his work. Joey was a little upset that the teacher would think so little of him to believe he would actually get someone to write his paper for him. He pulled out his phone (it was a habit of his by now) and found that he had a missed call from Mokuba. He hit the speed dial for the younger Kaiba brother and waited for him to answer.

"Hey Joey! About time you called back," Mokuba's voice greeted.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, pal," said Joey. "So what did ya need?"

"Well, I figured since you had the day off today, and Seto's home early from work, that we could all watch a movie together," Mokuba told him.

"Huh, sounds like fun," Joey said after some thought. "Sure, count me in."

"Cool! Do you want me to send someone to pick you up?"

"Nah, I'll walk."

"Alright, if you're sure," said Mokuba. "See you soon." Then the line went dead.

"A movie with Kaiba. I didn't know he even watched movies." After about a half an hour stroll, Joey finally reached the Kaiba mansion. He didn't know if he should let himself in or press the buzzer next to the gate door. He stared at the bright red buzzer for a few minutes and finally decided to press it. Knowing his luck, Kaiba has some special security defense that would go off if he let himself in.

A few moments after pressing the buzzer, a voice came out of the box, "Hi Joey!" Joey looked warily around trying to figure out how the voice knew it was him. "Joey, it's me, Mokuba. We have a camera on our side. I guess you never knew that because you always came in with either me or Seto. The gates will open in a few seconds and you can let yourself in." The box went silent and the gates quickly opened. Joey hesitantly walked through the gate, still imagining the alarm system in his head.

Joey stepped into the familiar mansion, looking around for Mokuba or Seto. Mokuba came out from the kitchen. "Hey, Joey, do you want popcorn, kettle corn, caramel corn, cheese corn, cinnamon corn…" Joey started to lose track of all the different flavors of popcorn that Mokuba was listing off for him and when Mokuba went on to beverages, Joey's head was spinning even more.

"How 'bout you surprise me Mokuba." Joey finally decided since he couldn't retain all of the snacks he listed off moments ago.

"Ok, the home theater is in the basement. Seto and I will be down there in a minute." Mokuba led Joey to the basement door that was perfectly hidden behind one of the plethora of closet doors in the hallway. Joey walked down the stairs, the lights turning on automatically with every step.

"How far down is this?" Joey wondered, thinking that the stairs would never end. Finally reaching to bottom, Joey was surprised to find a full entertainment room. On one side of the room was a few beanbags, a black couch and two comfort chairs in front of a giant screen and a projector that dropped down from the ceiling and looked like it was wirelessly connected to a desktop.

The other side of the room was more like a game room with a billiards table, foosball table, and a miniature holographic dueling table. There was what looked like a mini bar with four stools in the corner of the room opposing the pool table.

Joey looked around and decided to play a quick game of pool before Seto and Mokuba came down, but right as he started taking off the cover on it, Seto reached the bottom of the stairs. "What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?"

Joey dropped the pool table cover, "I was just gonna play a quick game while I waited for ya." Mokuba came down the stairs cheerily, causing this quick spat to come to a halt.

"So, what movie should we all watch?" Mokuba placed two kinds of popcorn bowls on the table, Kettle corn and Caramel Corn and heading over to the desktop that was connected to the projector. "I was thinking League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Mokuba sifted through the list of movies.

"I've never seen that one before. What's it about?" Joey asked, walking over to the caramel corn and popping some in his mouth.

Seto nodded his head in approval. "We will watch that one then." He sat on the couch, pulled out his laptop and began typing away as Mokuba dimmed the lights and the movie started.

At first, Joey had misgivings about the movie. However, as he watched, he found he began to get into it. He thought some of the characters were pretty interesting, and it had some decent fight scenes. Granted it wasn't action packed like the movies he was used to, but it was something he could live with. Beside him, Seto was working on his laptop, and every now and again he would glance up at the television screen. Mokuba was on the other side of Seto, munching on his popcorn, eyes never leaving the television screen.

Joey glanced at Seto every now and then, seeing his computer screen reflected in his hard eyes. Sometimes Joey would look over at him and would try to will Seto with his mind to return the glance. Seto's mind, however, was closed off from any forms of latent psychic ability that Joey may have had.

Half way through the movie, Seto finally shut the lid to his laptop and rested his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes briefly. He looked tired, Joey noticed. Why was the idiot such a workaholic? He wouldn't live past his thirties if he kept this up. Joey's eyes shifted, settling one Seto's hand which had fallen to his side. Joey for some reason had the sudden urge to take hold of that hand, warm those cold fingers with his.

"WHAT AM I THINKING!" he exclaimed in his head shaking it fiercely and scratching the sides of it as if to corrode away the thought. "Did I really just think about making a move on Kaiba? Well, I mean… technically we are together… I guess, so it should be considered perfectly natural. But it's KAIBA. Now that I think about it, we skipped several bases." His face became redder and redder with each thought. "I suppose I could do it. What's the worst that could happen? Okay, he could get mad and tell me to leave." He glanced back down at Kaiba's hand just innocently sitting there, waiting to be held.

Seto finally stirred for a moment cause Joey to freeze in his thoughts. Seto opened his eyes once again, and got up moving to the mini bar area, pulling out some coffee and a coffee pot. Joey sighed in relief and tried to focus on the movie once again. But as soon as Seto came back, coffee in placed on the table in front of them, all of Joey's thoughts went back to the hand that was placed on Seto's lap. "OK, Joey, you can do it, just grab it." Joey slowly extended his hand out to Seto's but Seto's hand moved towards the coffee cup, causing Joey's to slither back with a slight disappointment.

Seto's hand was back in place after his finished his coffee. "It's like he's messing with me without even knowing it." Joey mentally clenched a fist. "Ok, Joey, one more time." He said still looking at the hand from the corner of his eye. After a few moments of the hand still not moving, Joey decided to strike again. His hand got a few inchers closer than the first time, but Seto stood up this time, picking up his coffee cup to refill it. "Come on now, Joey, you waited too long this time. Ok, third time's the charm right? Right?" Seto came back to the couch, sipping some of his coffee before once again, placing it down on the table. "Ok, Joey, now or never."

Joey reached out as soon as Seto's hand was relaxed in place, and quickly grabbed it. "Oh yeah, I did it!" He said, thinking out loud. Almost jumping up, causing him to lose it again. Mokuba looked over to see what the ruckus Joey was making was about. Seto still with Joey's hand in his, lowered it so Mokuba couldn't notice it. Joey laughed nervously and waved at Mokuba with his free hand. Mokuba stared at Joey as if he was crazy, but shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV screen.

"Really, Wheeler, do you need to make a spectacle of everything? Just watch the movie." Seto's eyes drifted back to the movie, but oddly enough still didn't let go of Joey's hand. This caused Joey to flush for a brief moment, and his heart to beat faster than before.

They got through the movie, and Joey was a little annoyed at the cliffhanger. Once the movie ended, Seto stood up, his hand easily slipping from Joey's. "It's bedtime, Mokuba."

"Okay," Mokuba said disappointed.

The three of them made their way back upstairs and Mokuba skipped off to bed after telling Joey goodnight.

Joey and Seto stood alone for a while, and Joey was struggling with something to say, but Seto beat him to it. "I assume you know your way out by now, Wheeler."

"Uh, yeah. I think I'll be fine," Joey said lamely. He supposed he should just get used to the fact that Seto was about as tender as his luster dragon.

"Hn, goodnight," Seto said, before turning to head to his own room.

"Night," Joey mumbled as he turned to leave.

"And Wheeler, the next time you decide to try something like that, do us both a favor and be more subtle about it," Kaiba added, before ascending the stairs.

Joey stared after him for a moment before exiting the Kaiba mansion. "Huh…" Joey mulled as he walked out the gates and began his journey home. "So does that mean…?"

Ten minutes later as Seto was getting ready for bed, he felt his phone go off. He fished it out of his pocket and saw there was a text from Joey. Wondering what in the world he could possibly want, he opened it. It read:

"Does that mean I can do it again?"

Seto shut the phone. "That idiot." The text would never ever receive an answer.

* * *

Joey was once again at the Kaiba mansion, testing a new simulation game with Mokuba in the living room. Both of them had virtual reality headsets on their face, and were swinging their bodies around as they fought off monsters in the virtual world. Seto arrived home from work and heard the ruckus in the living room. He sat on the chair watching them as they were oblivious to the rest of the world around them. "Aw, man, lost again," Joey grumbled, taking the glasses off.

"You did better this time than last time." Mokuba took off his. "Wanna play again?" Mokuba asked, still revving for a challenge.

"You're on." Joey was eagerly about to throw the glasses back on, until they both noticed that Seto was sitting there staring at them. "Gah! Kaiba when did you get here?" he dropped his glasses in shock.

Seto picked up the glasses off the ground, "If you are going to test my games, you should be more careful with the equipment." Mokuba sighed, knowing that it was time for Joey's tutoring session. He put the game away and then ran off upstairs to do his homework.

Joey and Seto opened up their biology books and started to answer the assigned questions in the back. "I still don't get when I'm ever going to need to know what the inside of the frog looks like." Joey said with a sigh, leaning back on the couch.

Mokuba came hopping down the stairs a few moments later. "Are you guys done yet? I wanted to ask Joey a question."

"What is it?" Joey said, picking himself back up.

"If you're not busy Saturday, I thought the three of us could do something together again, like when we watched the movie." Mokuba's eyes were gleaming with hope for another chance to see his brother and Joey become better friends. After all, Joey seemed to be Seto's first real friend.

"Sorry, Mokuba, I promised Serenity I would take her out on Saturday. We still don't get to see each other very often and we both are free on Saturday."

Mokuba's face got saddened a bit, "Oh, okay, Joey. You have fun with your sister."

Seto noticed the disappointed look on Mokuba's face but said nothing for the moment. Once Joey had finished memorizing amphibian anatomy, he went home, his brain feeling as though it would start oozing out of his ears at any moment.

"Mokuba, did you still want to go out on Saturday?" Seto asked him.

Mokuba's eyes brightened. "Yeah, would you be able to, Seto?"

"I think I can manage to clear a day," Seto told him. "So long as I can get what I need finish early."

Mokuba ran over to his brother and hugged him. "Thanks, Seto. You're the best."

* * *

KD: Yay shopping! What fun shall ensue? Stay tuned to find out!


	15. A Day For Siblings

KD: Hey everyone. Sigh... it's our fifteenth chapter, yet reviews have dropped instead of increased like they normally do. We keep seeing all these other Seto/Joey stories getting so many reviews and we wonder what we're doing wrong? We've even begun to question whether it's worth continuing this story or not. I mean, we don't want to put so much time in a story no one is enjoying when there are other responsibilities we have to contend ourselves with. Food for thought...

**Chapter Fifteen: A Day For Siblings**

_Songs for chapter:_

_Sister- Dave Matthews_

_Can't Hurry Love- The Supremes_

Saturday had rolled around and Joey was waiting at the main square for his little sister. He checked his watch and noticed it was a few minutes past the scheduled time, but he wasn't sweating yet. He smiled at the thought of finally moving out of the apartment he shared with his dad and getting his own place. Granted, he would still do what he could for his father to keep him from drowning in his own drinking and gambling debts, but he wanted to be free and on his own. If he lived closer to Serenity, the two of them could see more of each other and do the things they missed out on growing up apart from each other.

Joey heard his name called and turned to see his sister running down the sidewalk, waving to him. "Hey, Serenity," Joey greeted with a wide grin on his face. "How ya been, sis?"

"I've been doing great," Serenity said, reaching Joey and giving him a hug. "It's good to see you again, Joey. It feels like we don't get to see much of each other, huh?"

"Yeah, but no worries," Joey assured, hugging her back. "That's gonna change real soon. I promise."

"I know you can do it, Joey. I believe in you," Serenity stated while to two separated from their hug. "So, Joey, where do you want to go?" The two begin their stroll down the shopping complexes.

"I'm not sure. Where do you want to go?" Joey asked, looking at the stores around them.

"Let's go to the book store." Serenity pointed across the street to a small store that has window stickers of new book releases all over the windows. "A book just came out that I want." Joey smiled at his sister as they crossed the street. He was thankful to see her happy and he wanted to soak up every minute of her smile, knowing everything they missed together as kids.

Across the street at the bookstore, Seto was reading a book, Angels and Demons, at the outdoor cafe. He sipped at his coffee while trying to figure out everything before the main character did. Mokuba was in the book store looking at science fiction books, trying to pick out one of the five he had in his hand to buy. He and Seto had the money to buy every book Mokuba wanted, but they knew not to go spending their money willy nilly. Mokuba looked over one of his books as the bells chimed indicating that someone was entering the book store. He glanced up and saw Joey enter with his little sister. He quickly ducked his face back inside the book. "Seto was right about them showing up to the book store. I wonder how he knew."

Serenity went straight to the romance section, and Joey went to the comics, picking up what mostly looked like action, fighting stuff. "Should I talk to Joey? He looks like he is having a good time with his sister." Mokuba kept debating in his head. He saw Serenity approach Joey to show him the book she was getting and finally the younger Kaiba got the courage to go up to the siblings. "Hi, Joey, I didn't think I would see you here," Mokuba said cheerfully, approaching them. "Is this your sister? Hi, I'm Mokuba."

"Nice to meet you, Mokuba, I'm Serenity, Joey's sister," Serenity introduced herself since Joey was momentarily caught off guard by the younger teen's appearance.

"Mokuba, who are you talking to?" Seto asked, walking over to the three, then noticing Joey and his younger sister.

Meanwhile several bookcases over, a certain tomb keeper was also debating on what book to get in the manga section. "They have so many, I don't want to choose just one," he murmured to himself. "But Bakura would probably get angry at me again if I bought twenty volumes like I did last time." He searched the shelves until something caught his eye. "Junjou Romantica? This sounds interesting." He flipped through the pages and almost blushed at how graphic some of the images were. "I wonder if this book series could serve as my Karma Sutra?"

"What are you doing?" A gruff voice asked from behind him. He quickly turned to face an annoyed Bakura whilst hiding the book behind his back. "I've been waiting for thirty minutes now. Haven't you picked something out yet?"

"Something like this can't be rushed, Bakura," Malik protested.

"I don't understand why you can't just steal a computer and download all of this online," Bakura muttered shaking his head.

"Because I like collecting these, and downloading isn't the same," Malik stated matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough," said Bakura before he noticed Malik's hand. "What's that behind your back?"

"Nothing."

Shooting back to Joey and the others, Joey was rather surprised to see Mokuba and Kaiba shopping at the same bookstore as them. Small world, Joey supposed.

"Joey, do you know this man?" Serenity asked him, looking at Seto. "He looks really familiar."

"Yeah, I know him," Joey admitted. "He's… my tutor…Seto Kaiba"

"Really? I'm so very happy to meet you," Serenity told Kaiba. "Thank you so much for helping my brother."

Joey expected Seto to make a derisive remark about Joey's intelligence, but surprisingly Seto held it in.

"Likewise," Seto said promptly back to Serenity. Seto knew the important bond between two siblings and didn't feel it was right to disrespect Joey in front of her.

"Would you two like to join us? We were going to go out for lunch soon. The more the merrier." She smiled sweetly at the Kaiba brothers.

"We would love to," Mokuba said with excitement, but paused to look to his brother. "Wouldn't we, Seto?"

"Please say you will come. I would like to meet more of Joey's friends besides Yugi, Tristan and Tea," Serenity lightly pleaded.

Joey didn't know what to expect from Seto at this point. It was odd enough that he was being polite to his sister, but no insults within the few moments of being in each other's presence was even weirder. "If you want to go, Mokuba, we will go then." He said looking to his brother, but then his eyes drifted towards Joey.

"That's great!" Serenity clapped her hands in excitement. "Let's go then, shall we?" Mokuba and Serenity went up to the register and pay for their books, while the older brothers waited outside for them.

"What're ya up to, Kaiba?" Joey questioned as soon as they stepped outside.

"I'm not up to anything, Wheeler," Seto snapped back, not looking at Joey. Instead he fixed his gaze through the sticker covered window at the younger siblings as they both started to head out the door, talking excitedly to one another.

"Ready to go, Joey?" Serenity asked, approaching her brother with her usual cheery smile.

"Ready when you are, sis," replied Joey maintaining his cheerful demeanor.

The four of them continued going to certain shops; in other words, going into any shop that caught Serenity or Mokuba's interest. Seto noticed that Joey was acting peculiar, sneaking off whenever they entered a place. Normally Seto wouldn't care, since Joey acting odd was actually perfectly normal. However, since Seto was being forced to window shop with three little kids (yes he counted Joey as one), he felt he had the right to know.

There most recent shop was a knick-knack shop, and Joey, surprisingly, wasn't messing with a bunch of the annoying trinkets on display. Instead he was on the other side of the store away from Serenity and Mokuba, looking into one of the glass cases.

"That would be perfect for Serenity," Joey thought to himself, seeing an oval yellow Topaz pendant that was surrounded by small crystals. Joey looked at the price next to the necklace. "Hmm, it's not too bad in price." Joey checked his wallet and had just enough cash on him for the necklace.

Seto walked over to Joey to see what he was looking at. "I didn't know you were into that kind of jewelry, Wheeler," Seto commented quietly in his ear while looking at the necklace.

Joey cocked his neck to look at Seto, looking a little miffed at the jab to his masculinity. "It would be for Serenity. It's her birthday soon and I wanna get her something nice this year. I have just enough money for it too." Joey looked into his wallet yet again. He didn't try to buy much since he was saving up, but he had a little leeway with it when it came to his baby sister.

The man behind the counter pulled out the necklace for Joey to look at, but Seto snatched it out of his hands and began to examine the stone. "The stone is a little cloudy for this asking price." Seto threw it back at the shop keeper, whose face was still in shock from it being snatched from his hands. "Let's go Wheeler, we could find something better than this elsewhere." He began to lightly pull on Joey but the shop keeper dropped the price by thirty percent, causing Seto to let go of Joey. "Thirty five, old man," Seto snapped back. The shop keeper was taken aback, but submitted to Seto's demand.

"What did you do that for, Kaiba?" Joey asked while the shop keeper was wrapping up the necklace for him.

"You said you needed to save up money to live closer to your sister. Consider it her birthday present from me." Seto walked back to Mokuba, who was looking at some old chess sets in a glass case near the front of the store.

Joey was rather amazed once again at the rare moments of charity Seto displayed. He finished paying for the necklace and approached the others. "I'm hungry," Joey declared, his stomach growling loudly. "Who else is ready ta eat?"

"I am," Serenity and Mokuba chorused. The four of them went to a small café on the corner of the street. It looked like a little Italian bistro, covered in deep purple flowers and with lace curtains in the window.

Seto only ordered coffee while everyone else ate their fill, Joey especially. By the time they were done, the day had begun to wind down quickly. Joey decided to make one last purchase, since thanks to Seto he had the extra money to do so. He knew his sister's love for cute cuddly things, so he figured she might like a duel monsters plush. He searched through them, trying to find the one she would like, when he came across one that brought on painful memories, Watapon. He swore he heard Seto chuckle from a few feet away but ignored him. He decided to get the pink fuzzy puff ball, feeling it symbolized his first step in earning the money to afford Serenity a gift. He had it gift wrapped and bagged, then slipped the packaged necklace inside with it.

As the sun was getting ready to set, Joey knew it was time to say farewell to his sister.

"I had a lot of fun, Joey," Serenity told him happily.

"I'm glad," said Joey smiling before handing her the bag. "Here, sis, happy early birthday."

Serenity's eyes widened and filled with tears of happiness as she flung her arms around her brother's chest. "Oh, Joey, you remembered."

"What are ya talking about? I could never forget something as important as my little sister's birthday," Joey said grinning.

"Thank you, big brother," Serenity said taking the gift and turning to Mokuba and Seto. "And thank you both for coming with us. I hope we can meet again."

Mokuba giggled bashfully. "Yeah, if you ever wanna come over sometime feel free. I can show you a bunch of awesome stuff."

"I would love to," Serenity said with a smile before flinging her arms around Joey one last time. "Thanks again everyone, I had a great day." She gave a final wave of farewell and began her journey home.

"Well, Mokuba, it's time to go home. I'll call for the car." Seto started to grab his cell phone, but Mokuba stopped him.

"It's such a nice night, Seto. Let's walk home." Mokuba said before running off. "You too Joey," he shouted back. "You still own me another match in that video game."

Seto and Joey both sighed at Mokuba's never-ending energy and started to walk after him.

As Joey was walking, his eyes kept drifting to Seto's hand. He was wondering if he should grab it or not. He thought of a few nights ago when he grabbed Seto's warm hand. He wasn't sure if the warmth was because of Joey's nervousness or the warmth left over from Seto's coffee cup.

After they walked a few more blocks the thoughts of holding Seto's hands returned to Joey. "When I held his hand last time he never complained. Also, when I asked him if I could do it again he never said no. But then again, he never said yes either." Joey looked around and for the most part they streets were empty besides the few cars driving by them here and there. "You can do it Joey. Just like last time. Just grab it!"

Joey reached out and touched Seto's hand, only being able to hold on to his fingers for just a minute. "What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" Seto gently placed his hands inside his jacket pockets. "We're in public."

Joey lightly glowered, but dug his hand inside Kaiba's jacket reaching for his hand anyways gripping hard not letting go. "Ya never said 'no' to my text."

"I never said 'yes' either," Seto returned, reenacting Joey's thoughts.

"Look, I just think that if we're gonna do this, then I wanna do it right," Joey said earnestly.

"Take your hand out of my jacket, Wheeler, before I remove it for you."

Joey did as he was told, but he made sure to show his displeasure by looking away from Seto in a very unhappy manner while stuffing his own hands inside his pockets. Seto rolled his eyes at the childish display. By the time they were a few blocks away from Seto's mansion, the sun had set and the stars were beginning to come out. Joey was still feeling a little sullen towards Seto. Would it kill the guy just to be a little affectionate once in a while?

Suddenly Joey felt an intruder in his pocket and cold fingers close around his hand before dragging it out into the open. Joey looked at Seto in disbelief as he let their clasped hands rest naturally between them as a couple should.

"Where is Seto and Joey? I hope I didn't get too far ahead of them." Mokuba looked around, trying not to move his head too suspiciously. Cocking his head over his shoulder, he saw Joey and Seto a good half a block behind him, holding hands while staring at each other. Mokuba noticed that it wasn't a usual hateful glare from Seto, that there was some softness in his eyes. "Brother and Joey, what's going on between the two of them?"

* * *

KD: So... see you next time... hopefully?


	16. How to Kill a Mood

KD: We just want to thank the people who commented. It gave us new hope. So for those of you who cared enough to give us your opinions, you made this chapter possible. :)

**Chapter Sixteen: How to Kill a Mood**

_Songs for chapter:_

_What About Now- Daughtry_

School was coming to a close and everyone was getting ready to leave for the day. Joey packed away his history book into his backpack, thinking that he would study later tonight.

"Studying for the history test?" Tea asked, noticing that Joey was actually taking his book with him.

"Yeah," Joey answered sheepishly. "I'm not good with memorizing dates and events. So, I'm really nervous about it."

"You've been doing great in school lately, Joey. I'm sure you'll be fine," Yugi said in support for his friend.

"Yeah, man, I'm amazed how much you raised your grades. Wish I could do that." Tristan laughed at himself, not packing away anything to study for at home in his bag.

"You could if you applied yourself, Tristan," Tea scolded him for being so lax about his grades.

"Joey, do you want to go to the game shop for a bit? Grandpa got some new cards in today," Yugi offered while throwing his bag on over his back.

"Sure, Yug, I can stop by for a bit," Joey said with his usual wide smile.

The four friends took off from school together talking about cards and what they have been up to lately. Joey felt a little out of the loop because of how busy he has been with work, studies, and spending time with the Kaiba brothers. He never realized how much he missed hanging out with his friends, but at the same time, he didn't miss them as much as he thought the he should. He knew it was because he was having such a blast spending time with Mokuba, and as much as he hated to admit it, Seto.

After spending some time at the shop looking at new cards he would love to add to his deck, he left for the Kaiba mansion. Joey had gotten used to the Kaiba manor. All the things such as the gate with the intercom buzzer were becoming second nature to him instead of freaking him out.

"Hey, Joey," Mokuba greeted as he threw open the door, allowing Joey to come in.

"Hey, Mokuba. Your brother here?" Joey asked, coming in with his school stuff in tow.

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, he's home. He's in his study though and I don't know how long he'll be in there."

"That's alright. Where is his study? I wanted to ask him a quick question," Joey said wondering which of the many vast doors held Seto's study.

"Here, I'll show you," Mokuba said before leading Joey through the mansion. They reached a door with a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on it. "This is it."

"Thanks, buddy," Joey thanked.

"Sure thing. Let me know when you're done, ok?" Mokuba said before running off to a different part of the mansion.

Joey smiled after him before turning to face the door. He turned the handle, pushing it open, and stepping inside. "Knock, knock," he announced his entry.

Sure enough, there was Seto at his desk working. He glanced up, glaring over rectangular glasses. "Wheeler, do you not know how to read?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to ask you a quick question about my homework," said Joey shutting the door behind him, a clear indication that he was not leaving any time soon.

Seto let out an irate sigh. "I'm in the middle of doing something."

"I can wait," Joey said placing his bag down.

"Whatever, Wheeler. Just don't bother me," Seto commented before returning back to his project.

Joey sat down and glanced around the room, searching for ways to entertain himself until Seto found time to help him. He could always try studying himself, that might pass the time. Then again, he wouldn't be here if he had his own method of retaining whatever information her tried to absorb from his textbook. After about fifteen minutes of nothing but the sounds of the mouse clicking and keyboard clattering, the blond teen began to grow restless. Soon the boredom became too much to handle, so Joey got up from his chair and wondered over to Seto, standing behind him, trying to see what he was working on. He couldn't make heads or tails of any of it. The screen was filled with graphs and charts whose meanings were lost to Joey. Just looking at all of it was making his head spin.

"Don't stare too long, mutt," Seto commented, not having to look at Joey to know what was going on. "I don't think your brain can handle the strain."

This comment made Joey agitated. Just because he wasn't as educated as Seto didn't mean he should be reminded of it around every corner. As Joey looked, he noticed the dark circles beginning to appear around the CEO's eyes. He began to wonder if the tutoring was taking up time where Seto could be finishing his projects or catching up on his sleep. Seto's eyes were intense and focused, lit up with the reflection of the computer screen.

Smiling a little, Joey wrapped him arms around Seto in a way that would not hinder his typing. He felt the coarse man tense slightly.

"What do you think you are doing, Wheeler?" Seto asked not slowing down his work.

"Nothing," Joey said with an over the top innocent tone.

Seto gave a small grunt but said nothing more, wanting to focus on the task at hand.

Joey got an idea, deciding he would take this rare opportunity to mess with Kaiba a little. He lowered his mouth against Seto's ear and began to lightly lick and nibble the lobe. Again, he felt a moment of tension come from the other's body, but Seto was choosing to ignore Joey's attention. Seto's cologne smelt like nothing Joey had encountered before, a mild spicy aroma. He moved down from the ear and began applying his lips, teeth and tongue lightly to the side of Seto's neck. Even though Seto was not making any indication this was affecting him, Joey noticed his typing speed was off a little. He continued to suck Seto's neck, growing in intensity little by little.

"Wheeler," the name was spoken in a gruff warning, clearly stating that Joey better stop if he knew what was good for him.

"What's wrong, Kaiba?" Joey asked. "Am I bothering you?"

"You're a bit more than a bother right now, mutt," Seto commented trying to get his typing rhythm to return.

Joey thought for a few seconds and tried to concoct another distraction for Seto. His eyes shifted to the silk, light blue tie that was still tightly wrapped around the young CEO's neck after a long day at the office. Joey went back to lightly kissing Seto's neck as a diversion to get the tie off so his trail of kisses could go even further down the brunette's body. Joey's hand touched the smooth material and his fingers flippantly pulled at the knot. "How do these things work?" Joey thought to himself as the removal of the tie soon became more of a challenge than he expected.

Joey lost his balance for a moment as Seto began to rise from his work chair. He turned around to face Joey, his right hand moving to the tie. In one fell swoop, Seto's tie was off, dangling neatly in his hand. Joey blushed in embarrassment at Seto being able to with ease what he, Joey, had been struggling with.

"If you're going to do something, Wheeler, do it right." Seto let the tie drop from his hand to drape onto the back of the chair.

"I suppose I have a few minutes," Seto thought to himself as he approached his puppy. "Perhaps I can use that time to educate him a little."

Seto grabbed Joey, pulling him close and placing him in the chair. Seto straddled himself on top of Joey, leaning down over him, trailing kisses down his exposed skin. Joey's body tensed at first but was soon relaxed from the cool feel of Seto's lips. Seto picked a single spot on the neck and began to softly suck, his tongue encircling the faint pink mark he was bestowing upon Joey, while hearing the younger male softly whisper his surname.

Once he was finished, and satisfied with his work, Seto moved his head back so he was face-to-face with the male beneath him. The cocoa brown eyes were staring at him, imploring. Seto began to lower his face towards the other's, intending to close the distance.

While this was happening, Joey soon noticed something different about Seto, the more he leaned closer.

"Hey, Kaiba, since when did you start wearing glasses?" he blurted out without thinking. Typical Joey. He reached up and pulled the glasses off Kaiba's face, examining them before putting them over his own eyes. "Hey check me out. I bet they make me look smarter, don't they?"

Seto pulled back and snatched his reading glasses off of Joey's face. "Get out of my chair, Wheeler," Seto said as he was getting off Joey. The coldness was back in full force.

"What? What did I do?" Joey thought to himself while getting out of the chair. He backtracked inside his own mind on what happened. "Wait a second… was Kaiba going to…? Aw, I'm such an idiot." Joey approached Seto who was already back to typing. The mood Seto had created was obviously dead and there was no chance of reviving it. "Kaiba…" said Joey, hoping there might still be a chance to spark it again. He had to admit, he was a little curious as to how those lips would feel against his, and he just blew his best chance to find out.

"What did you come here for, Wheeler?" Seto asked, shutting his laptop and taking off his glasses, placing them in a black and blue case that was stored in his jacket pocket.

Joey had almost completely forgotten about the reason why he first came to Seto's study in the first place. "Oh, ya. I was gonna see if you wanted to study after you were done with your work. We have a history test tomorrow, but I keep getting the dates and events mixed up," Joey divulged. "I was thinking if you got the time, maybe you could help me out? I get that you're busy and all, but…"

"Are you going to keep blathering your nonsense, or are we going to get started?" Seto asked impatiently.

Joey was a little surprised by this but decided not to ruin the moment again by voicing it. They moved to the small couch, in the corner of the study. Joey guessed it was there for when Seto became too tired to drag himself all the way to bed. Seto sat on the couch with Joey's text book and had Joey park it on the floor beside him to make sure he didn't cheat. The next several hours, Seto quizzed Joey out of the text book, first doing the events in chronological order, then mixing them up. He also did exercises such as stating a date and having Joey match the event, and then the reverse. By the end of it, Joey's head felt so full and his eyes felt so heavy that he began nodding off. He tried staying awake as Seto continued to quiz him. He closed his eyes for just a few seconds, but realized that was a mistake as they did not want to open afterwards.

Seto finally looked away from the book and down at Joey to see that he was fast asleep on top of his knee. He thought he heard some quiet snores come from Joey and slightly smiled at it. "It looks he reached his limit." Seto softly patted his golden hair. "I'm amazed that you lasted this long." He let out a heavy sigh, wondering what to do with him. He didn't want to bother taking him home. Seto tried to position his legs to try to stand up, but didn't want to wake Joey in the process.

"I don't wanna be in the freezer anymore," Joey mumbled in his sleep, slight goose bumps appearing on his exposed arms.

"I guess it can't be helped," Seto said pulling off his jacket and placing it on top of Joey's shoulders. "He will have to sleep here then." Seto tried to get off the couch to the best of his ability without dropping Joey's head on the ground, though the temptation grew with all the talk of food Joey had in his sleep. After much maneuvering Seto was on the floor with Joey, the blonde's head snuggled against Seto's lap. He finally was able to place Joey on the couch, allowing him to use the jacket as a blanket.

When it seemed like Joey had stopped talking about food, Seto left the room only to hear, "thank you…" Seto could have sworn that he was talking about the triple stuffed pizza still, but hoped that it was for the kind gesture Joey would never remember when he woke up. After the lights were off, Seto headed to his own room to sleep, knowing that he needed it just as much with the long nights he was pulling as of late.

The next morning after getting his coffee Seto headed to his study to see if Joey was still asleep. When he opened the door, he saw the upper half of Joey's body was falling off the couch and the lower half was still sprawled haphazardly across the cushions. His jacket had been reduced to a ball that was clenched in Joey's arms like a teddy bear. After debating whether or not to wake up the sleeping blond, he opened his laptop to start some of his work, going over presentations for the day's meetings.

Joey's body finally slid off the couch completely and his eyes shot open as his body felt the shock of the landing. "Look who finally decided to wake up," Seto said while Joey rubbed his back, not seeming to comprehend what was going on or let alone that Seto was in the room. Joey stretched his arms wide, the jacket falling slowly escaping its ball form.

Joey looked around the room, trying to remember where he was and saw Kaiba at the desk. "I heard that, Kaiba," Joey said, slowly standing up off the floor. Joey saw the jacket on the floor, glanced up at Seto who was engrossed in his work, then back at the jacket again. He picked up the article of clothing, then went over to Kaiba and placed it over the shoulders of the working president.

"Thanks," he murmured, before heading back to the couch, grabbing his stuff, and dashed out of the room so as not to be late for school.

Seto paused only for a split second to watch the rambunctious teen disappear out the door. "Troublesome pup," he muttered, and continued his programming.


	17. Nah, He Likes Brunettes

CM: New chapter! Wee! We're starting to get to the good stuff! Drama! More intense romance! And of course the puppyshipping we love and adore. ^_^ Enjoy! And yes, we know the song is over used, but trust me, it fits.

**Chapter Seventeen: Nah, He Likes Brunettes**

_Song for chapter:_

_Dirty Little Secret- All American Rejects_

"Man, that test was brutal," Tristan stated once their history class had ended.

"I didn't think it was so bad," Ryou inputted.

"That's because you probably studied, unlike some people," Tea said, shooting a glance at Tristan.

"Hey, gimme a break. I can't study something I'm not interested in," Tristan said in his defense before turning to his closest buddy. "How do you think you did, Joey?"

"I dunno. I think I might have done alright," Joey replied with a shrug. Honestly, he didn't feel he did too badly. Several of the questions he felt for sure he knew the answers to. He was confident he at least managed to get a C.

"You looked pretty sure of yourself, Joey," Yugi commented. "You weren't freaking out like you usually do."

"Of course, that's cuz Joey Wheeler knows how to keep his cool," Joey declared proudly.

"Right…" Tea and Tristan said in unified disbelief.

"I say, Joey, what's that on your neck?" Ryou asked suddenly.

Joey was confused by Ryou's question and felt awkward as suddenly everyone was staring at him trying to figure out what strange thing Ryou discovered.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tristan exclaimed.

"Oh, Joey," Tea murmured.

"A bruise? Oh, wait, isn't that…" Yugi asked.

"What are you guys talking about?" Joey asked feeling left in the dark.

"Take a look," Tea said. She pulled out a compact mirror and handed it to Joey. Joey flipped it open and searched until he found what they were talking about. He let loose an exclamation when he saw, at the base of his throat, a faint red mark.

"That jerk," Joey thought furiously. "Why'd he have to leave it someplace visible?"

Joey's inner rage was interrupted when Tristan pulled him into a headlock. "You dog, so you finally found yourself a girl, huh? Why didn't you say anything? I thought we were pals."

"Sorry, Tristan," Joey said awkwardly. "I just…"

"It's alright, I understand," Tristan said giving him a playful noogie before letting him go. "So, Romeo, who's the lucky lady?"

"Is it Mai?" Tea guessed.

"I dunno, Joey seems more like a fan of brunettes," Ryou said cheerily.

Joey flushed at this statement and he wasn't sure how to answer their questions.

Yugi must have sensed his reluctance because he said, "It's okay, Joey. If you don't feel comfortable telling us, then we can wait until you're ready."

Joey smiled at the midget. "Thanks, Yug. No offense guys but, it's not really something I wanna talk about."

After school, Tristan and Joey decided to walk to Burger Land and hang out there before meeting Tea and Yugi at the arcade. Joey had another precious day off and felt it was important to spend some quality time with his best friends. The two boys were walking in silence at first, neither knowing what to say to one another. Tristan wanted to ask more about Joey's mysterious girlfriend and why he hid it for so long from him. They had been through so much together in the past, so why was it so hard for him to mention one girlfriend?

Joey felt more self conscious about his neck now, knowing that the hickey was there. A mark left by Seto, almost like a marking to show the world that Joey is his property, but no one would know this. The two boys had worked hard to make sure that no one knew of their bizarre relationship that extended further than boss and employee.

"Hey, Joey," Tristan's voice finally broke the silence. "Why have you been hiding the fact that you have a girlfriend? I mean I thought we were best friends, man. What gives?"

Joey held in a sigh. "Aw, I don't know, it's embarrassing." Joey let out his sigh almost speaking in a whisper, "Besides sometimes I wonder if SHE really thinks of us like that." Joey waited for Tristan to respond hoping that he didn't hear the last statement.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. And it's obvious she likes ya." Tristan pointed to the hickey on Joey's neck. "Besides I wanna meet this girl. Curious to see what she sees in ya." Tristan laughed at his light taunt.

"Trust me, Tristan, you know him well enough." Joey thought as the two finally entered Burger Land.

"Did you meet her at work?" Tristan asked after the two ordered and were sitting down at their usual table.

"Kinda," Joey said less than convincingly, but Tristan went with it. "It's not a complete lie I did meet Seto at work but I just happened to know him before hand." Joey took a sip of his shake. "Let's talk about something else. You're acting worse than a girl right now interrogating me like this." Joey hoped saying that would drop the topic, which it did. The conversation soon moved to video games, card games, and some new bands Tristan has been listening to and thought Joey would enjoy.

After finishing their food, the two headed to the arcade ready to play some games. However, to Joey, the video games in the arcade where nothing in comparison to the games he'd tested with Mokuba, except for the fact that he actually won against Tristan, rather than getting his butt kicked with Mokuba.

After a good three hours of gaming, the two went their separate ways. Joey headed home, ready to get some much needed sleep. With a yawn Joey stumbled in to his apartment. "How does Kaiba do it?"

He shuffled through the room, his feet hitting empty beer bottles. He noticed a figure passed out in the armchair of the living room, snoring heavily. Joey sighed before he went and fetched a blanket before coming back and covering the comatose figure that smelt heavily of alcohol.

"Ya probably won't miss me if I'm gone, will ya, old man?" Joey murmured out loud before heading to his own room so he could get his much-desired sleep.

Seto and Mokuba were leaving the book store, brown bag full of books in tow. "Look, Seto," Mokuba said, running over to a light pole seeing a brightly colored poster attached to it. "There's a firework festival December 2nd and 3rd in Chichibu." Mokuba started getting excited. They had never gone to a festival together before and always wanted to go to one. "We should go. It would be fun." Mokuba looked at his elder brother hopefully.

"We have more important things to do than take a weekend off to go to a festival." Seto walked back to the car without a moment's thought. He waited for Mokuba to join him, but saw the sadness in Mokuba's eyes from the fast rejection. The entire car ride was quiet, Mokuba day-dreaming about eating all the food from the vendor stalls, watching the fireworks light up the night sky, and just spending some quality family time with his brother.

After the two got to the house, Seto went straight to his study, going back to his work. However, after three hours of nothing but typing away on his computer, his mind drifted to the festival Mokuba was excited about. He pulled of the website with all of the information about what was going on each day, and it did sound like something Mokuba would enjoy. "Even the mutt would enjoy this," he thought as he perused the pictures of previous festivals.

"It's only about ninety minutes away." He was looking at the online maps. On the sidebar, Seto saw some hotels in the area. "Going to an onsen would be relaxing." He looked at the pictures of the place. "But there is too much work to be done here." Seto closed the browser window and went back to his work, but a small part of him, in the back of his mind, really didn't think that spending the weekend there would be too bad.

"Hey, Mokuba, ya feeling alright?"

The next day Joey had dropped by to play some video games before heading over to meet Tristan. What was really odd, though, was that Joey had managed to win three times in a row. He'd like to think it was because of his mad gaming skills, but the young boy genius wasn't easily beaten.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mokuba said, though he didn't sound it. "I guess I'm just not up for games right now."

"What happened?" Joey asked in friendly concern.

"Well, there's this festival going on…" Mokuba began. He explained to Joey about the winter festival he saw being advertised. He described the events as well as all the fun things one could do, and of course all the delicious food one could eat being there. Joey listened intently and was clearly charmed with the idea. When Mokuba told Joey that Seto didn't want to go, Joey was baffled. "I really want to go, but without Seto it just wouldn't be as fun."

"That jerk," Joey said, getting up. "Looks like someone's gotta knock some sense into that rich boy, and it might as well be me."

"Joey, wait…" Mokuba said, trying to stop him but Joey wouldn't hear a word of it. When Joey got to the study, he didn't even bother knocking, but threw open the door. "Find a stopping spot, Kaiba, cuz I'm about to tear you a new one."

"Do you have seriously nothing better to do than to interrupt me when I'm busy, mutt?" Seto asked, not even bothering to look up from his computer screen.

"What's the deal, Kaiba?" Joey asked. "Mokuba wanted to go to a festival and you didn't even consider it? What kind of big brother are you? I can understand shirking me off for work, but Mokuba's your family. You have no idea what you're throwing away!" Joey would have loved to have been able to do things like this with Serenity. Had he the time and money, he would have taken her anywhere she wanted. The fact Seto would rather spend his free time working rather than spend time with his little brother infuriated Joey. "It's like the only time you ever act like an older brother is when Mokuba is in mortal peril or something."

"You're yapping is getting on my nerves, Wheeler," Seto warned. "You're in MY house, mutt. Start learning some respect before you decide to start lecturing me."

"I'll stop lecturing ya when you learn how ta be a brother instead of a work-a-holic." Joey sat down in one of Seto's office chairs, obviously not wanting to budge until Seto hear him out. "If I had the money I would take Serenity wherever she wanted. And I know you have the money, rich boy. So what possible thing at work could be so important that ya can't take three days off for your brother?"

"If you ran a multi-billion dollar company, then you would understand how important my work is," Seto stated, trying to drop the conversation, but when it comes to Joey, that's near impossible.

Joey gripped the chair's arm handles for a few seconds before standing up. "Fine, deprive you brother of an actual childhood then." Joey stalked out and headed back to the living room, where Mokuba was just laying on the couch. Mokuba's body shot up when he heard Joey enter "Sorry Mokuba." Joey looked just as disappointed as he did. "But Kaiba won't budge. You and I could always go together though." Joey tried to cheer up the pre-teen but it was obviously not working.

"It's ok, Joey. It wouldn't be the same without Seto. Thanks for trying though."

Joey messed up Mokuba's hair trying to get a smile out of him. "Well, I got to go meet up with Tristan. If you change your mind call me then." Mokuba nodded at Joey and walked him out of the house.

A few days had passed, and no word about the festival had been brought up in the Kaiba manor. However, Seto didn't stop thinking about it completely. Even though he didn't show it, he did take Joey's words to heart, and thought about the childhood that he and Mokuba had, or lack thereof. "I could always bring my laptop with me to work on. But I can see Wheeler stopping me every time I try to work."

Seto was once again looking at the onsen on the internet, and pulled out his phone. After a few rings he heard an elderly women on the other line. "How much it is to rent out an entire half of you bath house?" he inquired. After one swift negotiation, Seto was able to reserve half of the bath house for the weekend of December 2 and 3rd. "The mutt better be happy about this."

* * *

CM: Nyaw! He does have a heart? But WILL Joey be happy? Let's find out! Not now though... but soon! :P


	18. Two and a Half Men in an Onsen

KD: Sorry for posting so late. Our beta was sick. :( SO we did the chapter editing ourselves. Hope it was decent enough.

**Chapter Eighteen : Two and a Half Men in an Onsen**

_Chapter Song: Shark in the water- VV Brown_

A couple days later, Joey was on break at work with Kit when he heard his cell phone go off. He looked to see he had received a text, which was rare, so he opened it with curiosity. _"It's from Kaiba."_

It read:_ Come to my house right after school on Friday, and don't be late._

Joey read the text over a few times. It was simple enough, but still, he had no clue what was going through the brunette's head.

Friday rolled around and rather than being hunted down and kidnapped as a result of defying the dragon fanatic's wishes, Joey went to Seto's house after school. What he saw surprised him. Seto's (ridiculous and completely unnecessary in Joey's opinion) Blue Eyes White Dragon jet was parked outside the front door and luggage was being loaded into it by the maids and black suits. Seto and Mokuba were waiting nearby.

"Hey, Joey!" Mokuba said excitedly, looking positively ecstatic. "Glad you could make it."

"Uh, make what?" Joey said a little confused.

"We're going to the festival!" Mokuba told him. It was like Christmas had come early.

"Huh? For real?" Joey said looking between the two of them. Seto was pretending that he was deaf to the conversation because he didn't even acknowledge Joey's arrival. "That's great, Mokuba. But… why'd ya invite me over just to tell me this? Ya could've just called or something."

"You're coming too, idiot," Seto spoke at last.

Joey made an exclamation of surprise. Once again he was being included in plans without even being consulted first. "Look, I kinda already had plans…."

"Really? Because from what I heard you said that you were willing to go with Mokuba to the festival," Seto reminded pointedly. "Or was that just your usual posturing?"

Joey's face darkened. Yes, he had been willing to go with Mokuba at the time, but after Mokuba said he didn't want to leave without Seto and Seto seeming like he would never spring for the idea, Joey just figured it wasn't gonna happen.

Mokuba stepped in before the potential fight could start. "Guys, come on. Don't start fighting now." Mokuba turned to look at Joey. "It's okay if you're busy, Joey. I know it's kinda short notice. I just thought having you along would be fun."

Joey saw the disappointed face of Mokuba and groaned. "Me and my bleeding heart. Alright, I'll go, but I'll have to go back to my place to pack."

"There's no need. I already took the liberty of packing everything you'll need," Seto declared.

Joey glared at him. _"If he was anymore domineering he'd carry a whip with him wherever he went."_

If he had telepathic abilities, he was sure he'd be hearing something akin to,_ "That's right, puppy. Be a good boy and obey your master,"_ judging by the triumphant grin on Seto's face.

Once the jet was loaded the three boys went on board. Joey never would have imagined he would ever be given the privilege of riding in that thing and it was a privilege he could have defiantly lived without. "So why are we taking the jet and not the limo?" Joey questioned as soon as the last piece of luggage went into the back of the jet.

"It's the fastest way to get there," Mokuba started still giddy. "The traffic going there will be crazy since it's such a popular festival, so Seto thought taking the jet would be best."

Joey joined Mokuba in the back seat, while Seto flew the jet. Joey looked out the windows down at the ground, thinking that everything looked like Legos. It was a short flight, only about forty minutes, and Joey was surprised that Seto found a place to land the jet, a private airport. After all it's not like he could land in ANY airport.

"So where are we staying at?" Joey said as they all got out of the jet and grabbed their bags. A limo was waiting for them several yards away.

"I reserved half of an Onsen," Seto said as if it was no big deal.

"Wah? Half? As in half of the building?" Joey was shocked. Then again, this was Seto Kaiba he was talking about; he had enough money to do anything that he wanted, and then some.

The ride to the onsen was a short one, only about fifteen minutes, and the place was huge. The lush green trees surrounded what looked like a brown and white mansion from the Edo period. It was placed near the edge of a cliff, looking out over a lake. It was only a few miles away from the city where the festival was, but it was a completely different vibe. There were several people waiting outside of the building in traditional Kimono garbs, as if they were expecting them to arrive.

The three boys stepped out of the limo, and the employees bowed. "Welcome Mr. Kaiba. It's a great honor to have you here. My daughter will lead you to your rooms and show you where everything is located." The older women pointed to a young girl who looked like she was in her late teens. The young girl stepped forward, greeting them once again and showed them to their half of the giant building.

Mokuba looked around wide-eyed with enthusiasm, making it blatantly obvious that it was his first time at one. _"Seto really went all out for this," _Joey thought seeing how elaborate the inside was, but still staying traditional in a sense.

"Would the three of you like your own rooms? Or would you like to share one?" She asked as they continued down the halls. "Since you have this entire half of this building, you may take any room you please." As she continued leading them, she pointed out the recreation rooms, and where the different bathhouses were, indoor and outdoor, their sizes, and if some were slightly warmer than others.

"We will share a room together," Mokuba answered her finally. It was obvious that Mokuba wanted to spend every minute possible with the two teenagers. Seto didn't say a word of refusal to Mokuba's answer so Joey decided to go with it.

She led them to their room, sliding the door open to show a living room like area that had a long dinner table in the middle. "Dinner will be served to you at six," the girl said with a final bow and left the three boys alone. They entered into the back room, and there were three futons next to each other on the floor and Mokuba eagerly placed his bag on the middle one. Seto started looking around for an outlet to plug his laptop in but could not find one.

"So what are we going to do first? I want to go to one of the hot springs," Mokuba said looking at Joey, since his brother was too preoccupied trying to find a place for his precious laptop.

"Sure. Sound's great." Joey looked over to the brunette and noticed his futile search. "You too, Kaiba." Since Joey had been coerced into going on this trip, he would do everything in his power to make sure Seto participated in it.

"Yeah, come on, Seto," Mokuba said, joining forces with Joey. "You need to take a break. Just for this weekend."

After much coercion, the two of them managed to persuade Seto into joining them in the hot springs. Though, rather than actually getting in he instead was sitting in one of the lounge chairs wearing a bathrobe and reading a book while wearing his reading glasses. Joey and Mokuba meanwhile were having a blast splashing each other with the hot water and making a ruckus, but it was alright because they were the only ones there.

"I call this my Super Ultra Jumping Joey Wave Attack," Joey declared throwing his arms out and placing them half way in the water before pulling them forward together, sending a wave of water at Mokuba. Though there was a lot of power behind it, the aim was off and he ended up getting both Seto and his book… oh his book, wet.

Mokuba and Joey both visibly paled, despite the heat of the water. "You're on your own, Joey," Mokuba said before scrambling out of the water and escaping the 'room'.

"Come back here you little traitor," Joey shouted trying to follow but slipping on one of the rocks and making a full body splash face first into the hot water.

Joey lifted his head from the water and looked back at Seto through his dripping wet bangs. His face was filled with more animosity than he had ever seen before. Joey's head shot back the other way, so to not look at the annoyed CEO who was drenched to the bone in water, and his brand new book ruined. "Wheeler," Seto said getting out of the lounge chair and stepping into the hot spring, his goal being Joey.

"What's the big deal Kaiba…" Joey started. "You could always buy another one." Joey was still facing the other way, avoiding Seto at all costs. However, in the small spring it was impossible to hide from his fury. Joey honestly did feel bad, despite his talk. He hadn't meant to get Seto or the book wet.

"It's not the book I'm upset about, Wheeler," Seto said reaching the young blond. "It's your infantile behavior."

Joey was slightly embarrassed by that, but it's not like they were in public. _"And why is he chastising me and not Mokuba? Though I guess Mokuba defiantly is more mature than me overall,"_ he admitted reluctantly to himself.

Mokuba was peeping through the crack in the sliding door after he got dressed in the shower room. He saw his brother enter the hot spring, obviously not looking amused at being splashed by Joey. Mokuba did feel a little guilty about putting Joey in this situation; he did start the splash fight after all.

"Can't ya not be a stick in the mud for one weekend?" Joey asked Seto. He knew that he was not the most mature person in the world, but Seto did need to lighten up more. He was only eighteen, and he acted like he's thirty five.

Seto cornered Joey when he knew he could not move back any further. Joey had no clue what to expect from the CEO. He felt the warm hand on his head, fingering his hair ever so slowly, and it put Joey in alarmed confusion. Then Seto did the last thing Joey would expect. With his hand, he pushed Joey's head fully down into the warm water for a few seconds.

As he let go and walked out of the spring he simply stated, "I'm going to bed now."

Mokuba saw his older brother approaching the door to the shower room, and quickly scurried away, heading back to the room before anyone noticed his spying.

Joey gasped and spluttered, breathing heavily as his head rose up from the warm water. _"What was that?" _Joey was in a state of bewilderment. _"Is that's Kaiba's idea of lightening up?" _He continued out of the water and headed into the shower room, getting his robe back on. He eventually found his way back to the room, seeing Seto and Mokuba both already passed out asleep on their futons. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day; it was the first day of the festival and he knew that Mokuba would be dragging them around like crazy trying to do everything imaginable.

"Just you wait, rich boy," Joey thought laying down for the night on his side, watching Seto sleep peacefully. "I'll drag the fun outta ya kicking and screaming if that's what it takes."

* * *

KD: Go Joey! We're rooting for you! What will the first day of the festival be like? One can only imagine, but you can find out if you stay tuned! Oh yeah, and if you're wondering why they didn't eat dinner... they weren't hungry. :P


	19. DENIED by Joey?

CM: OMfreakinG! After the last chapter we got so many reviews it was like our birthdays and christmas combined! At last, some feedback! A grand thankyou and many cookies to those of you who so heavily reviewed the past few days. Since you were all so eager for this next chapter, we're hoping to hear back from you on it. Enjoy! :D

**Chapter Nineteen: DENIED!...by Joey?**

_Chapter song:_

_I think i love you- Less than Jake_

"Wake up Joey," Mokuba said, shaking the tired blond from his sleep. "The festival starts today!" Mokuba shook him even harder when the teenager remained unresponsive. Joey slowly opened his eyes, seeing Mokuba beaming with excitement for the day. Slowly getting up, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He noticed Seto with a coffee in hand as usual, but staring at a black computer screen. It was blatantly obvious that the work-a-holic CEO could not find an outlet for his laptop, cursing to himself why he didn't think of asking about something as simple as outlets.

"Morning, Mokuba," Joey said, finally standing up, stretching his muscles awake for the new day.

"Get dressed, Joey. I want to leave as soon as possible," Mokuba urged, anxiously waiting to see the beginning of the festival.

Joey opened up the suite case that Seto had packed for him. It was full of long sleeved shirts in white, black, green, and blue; jeans and kakis, and a few jackets all varying in warmth. "What's up with all this clothing for just two days?" Joey dug through the suite case, not finding anything that he thought really suited him. All of the shirts looked like they'd be too tight fitting and uncomfortable. Not to mention they appeared to all be designer clothes which meant they were probably expensive. He'd already had to wear a designer doggy costume; he didn't want to relive the nightmare of Kaiba dictating what he should wear. "I'll just wear what I wore yesterday." Joey shut the suite case and grabbed his usual white shirt and jeans with his trusty green jacket that made him feel like he stood out in some way. Putting it on, he was ready to go.

"You should wear something warmer than that, Wheeler." Seto said, not really paying attention to him that much. It was obvious that he was less happy than usual, but Joey didn't know if it was from the work recession or his book getting wet because of Joey's attempts to have fun.

"I'll be fine," Joey said back, not really wanting to be forced to wear what Seto had picked out for him. The selection was really not Joey's taste, but then again, it was probably clothing that Seto had wanted to see him in. The mixture of jersey fabrics for the jackets and the under armor like shirts were defiantly closer to Seto's style that Joey's.

"But, Joey, it's freezing outside…" Mokuba started, but knew it would just be best to let Joey do what he wanted.

The moment they stepped outside, Joey immediately wanted to run back inside and jump in the hot spring fully clothed. The air was chilly and the breeze didn't help matters at all. He wasn't about to let Seto or Mokuba in on his discomfort, knowing he would receive an 'I told you so'. He decided instead to just grin and bear it and hope the day would grow warmer. There was plenty of stuff for them to do to keep them busy. Countless vendor were selling souvenirs, food, drinks, and cheap useless things kids would buy, use only for that day, and then shove to the backs of their closets for the rest of eternity. They got to watch some of the street performances, pay a visit to the shrine, and explore many of the shops.

The streets were extremely busy by midday, and soon it was difficult to move around. There was one point where the three of them almost got separated during a crowd rush. Just when Joey thought he'd lost sight of the brothers, a strong hand clamped around his wrist and began dragging him through the crowd. Once he was finally out of the mess of bodies, he saw Seto holding onto his arm.

"Don't get lost, pup," Seto said, releasing his grip.

Joey wished that hand would hold his right about now. Heck, he'd accept a full-body embrace at this point in time. Even though the sun was brighter now, the wind chill seemed to grow worse with the passing hours. His fingers felt like they would break off at the smallest impacted. His toes were the same way. His nose was also numb and runny, and his ears were aching with cold. He ignored his discomfort, not wanting to complain when he brought it on himself. Mokuba, who had been holding onto Seto's other arm, steered them towards the shops that weren't as crowded. Joey was thankful for this as being inside gave him a chance to warm up.

They entered inside a small, used books store; it was warm, despite the frigid temperatures just outside. An elderly man was sitting behind the register drinking his coffee, watching a small television. Seto looked at the mystery section, pulling off old books that looked at least fifty years old. Out of the corner of Joey's eyes, he saw a familiar book cover in the new arrivals section. "It's the book I got wet," Joey noted pulling it off of the shelf. He looked over to Seto who was currently absorbed in the book he was reading. "It's not that expensive either." Joey saw the hand written penciled price on the inside flap of the book.

"Whatch ya got there Joey?" Mokuba said, trying to get a look at what he was holding.

"Just a book," Joey replied, heading over to the register. "I did ruin his. So I should buy a new one." The old man rang up Joey and placed the book in a brown paper bag, handing it back to the teenager. "Thanks," Joey said, taking the bag from the old man. The old man smiled at Joey and immediately went back to his television.

Seto closed the old leather bound book and placed it back on the shelf, and headed out of the store before Mokuba and Joey could catch up with him. As soon as Joey stepped back outside his body was once again engulfed in the cold weather. "What happened to it getting warmer as the day went on?" Joey thought, his body rapidly becoming stiff from the cold once again. Joey saw Seto sitting on a bench waiting for the two to catch up with him.

"I'll get us some warm drinks," Mokuba said, dashing off into the crowds towards the vendors, leaving Joey and Seto alone.

Joey gripped that package and handed it over to Seto. "Here, I bought this for ya."

Seto dubiously took the package but his expression changed when he saw what it was. Joey opened his mouth for an unnecessary explanation, but he faltered when Seto turned his thoughtful gaze onto Joey. Joey's tongue tripped over himself staring into Seto's eyes, not so much because of the eye lock –they'd had their share of staring matches- it was more the unfathomable expression that lay behind them

"I suppose this saves me the trouble of buying another one," Seto said finally, releasing Joey from the captivating stare.

Joey felt at last his body warming up… though not in the way he'd wanted or planned. Why did Seto have to be so annoyingly… charismatic?

"Here, Joey! This should help warm you up," Mokuba chimed, coming back with some drinks and shoving a steaming cup into Joey's hand. Good, something to help get his mind off his weird arousals.

When it started getting dark, streets became aglow with lanterns and fires and electrical lights. Unfortunately, the already cold temperature was quickly dropping even further and Joey was beginning to believe he would never be able to feel again. Seto, being the attentive one, decided it would be best if they all returned back to the onsen.

* * *

After cleaning off in the shower room, the three boys headed outside, Seto was reading his book once again in one of the chairs, while Mokuba and Joey sat in the water quietly. Joey didn't want to get scolded again by Seto, so he quietly watched as Mokuba swam around in the warm water, dunking his head under. "Seto, you should get into the water," Mokuba urged, his head rising from the warm water looking at his older brother, who was engrossed by the book that Joey bought for him to pay any attention to them.

"Later, Mokuba," Seto said, turning the page of his book.

Mokuba heaved a sigh but did not argue the point. "I'm going to go check out the rec room then," he said, getting out of the water leaving the two teenagers alone once again.

Joey stayed in the warm water, with his eyes closed, relaxing, and enjoying the silence. He thought he felt the water lightly ripple against his skin, but he didn't bother to open his eyes. After suffering from near frostbite, it was nice to be engulfed in warmth.

Joey felt the water move even more, and slightly opened one of his eyes, seeing the CEO in the water moving towards him. Seto sat down next to Joey in the water, still not saying a word. Joey felt Seto's hand wrap behind him casually, and Joey felt himself get even warmer.

"Are you enjoying your book?" Joey finally asked, trying to make conversation after the two sat there for several minutes in silence. "You were staring at it more than you do your laptop."

"It's intriguing," Seto said, not seeming to want to go in depth about the book. "Maybe you should try reading a book too, mutt."

"I do too read books," Joey said back in defense.

"Manga and comics don't count as reading," Seto drawled, looking at Joey.

The two were in a lockdown, and Joey noticed Seto's head moving closer to his. "What is Seto doing?" Joey thought, but as Seto's face got closer, Joey finally realized what was happening. "Is Seto going to…" As soon as Seto's face as only inches away from his face, Joey stood up all flustered, "I'm going to go check on Mokuba," Joey quickly left the water.

Joey just passed through the shower room without rinsing off and headed out into the hallway. "I never thought Kaiba would try again after what happened last time…I wanted him to try again, but I freaked out…" As soon as this thought crossed his mind he flailed about, unable to accept the fact that he was thinking such thoughts. Then he his shoulders slumped in an exhausted manner. Why did this relationship have to be so confusing?

* * *

Seto sat in the water for a few more minutes after Joey left him alone in that water. "What does that mutt want from me?" Seto thought, starting to get out of water. He picked up his book and looked at it for a brief moment. "I try to show him I care in a more 'reasonable' way and he just freaks out and leaves."

Seto tried to think logically through this like he did with everything else. A possibility struck him; could it be that what Seto did several month earlier possibly affected Joey in such a way that now he was panicky towards intimate contact? No, Wheeler shouldn't have been shaken up by something like that. Seto refused to believe that Joey's hesitation was in any way his fault. Why did he even bother?

After showering off, he went to check on Mokuba in case what Joey said was just an excuse and found the two of them in the game room playing ping pong. Just as Seto came in Joey nailed the ball and Mokuba missed it by an inch.

"Oh yeah, game and match," Joey crowed, as if he'd won nationals.

"Amazing, you won a game that requires little to no cognitive skill," Kaiba stated in mock congratulations.

Joey frowned at Seto. "Oh yeah, then it should be a piece of cake for you, rich boy. Whaddya say?"

"You embarrass yourself enough without needing my help, Wheeler," Kaiba retorted.

"Sounds like moneybags is scared," Joey egged. "What's wrong, Kaiba? Scared ta get beaten by a mutt?"

Seto glared at the cocky looking blonde and decided that the only way to appease some of his frustration was to once again put the pup in his place. Seto held his hand out to Mokuba and the little brother relinquished his paddle.

"Now that's more like it," Joey said. "And just to make things interesting, I say we place a bet. If I win you have to take a whole week off of work. And build a pool in your backyard."

"Very well, Wheeler," Seto said, seeing the same determination in the chocolate eyes that he did during a duel. "You can serve first."

"Wait, Kaiba. What do you want if you win?" Joey asked before starting the match.

"I'll tell you after I win," Seto said slightly smirking, "Serve mutt."

Joey threw the ball up and hit the tiny orange ball with all his might, but before he could react, Seto already hit the ball back, scoring the first point. "First point goes to me. Ten more left. Serve again, Wheeler." Joey clutched the tiny plastic ball tight in his fist before serving again. Seto once again hit the tiny plastic ball with an almost professional level speed. Joey more prepared this time, nicked the tiny ball, but it hit the net, causing another point to go to Seto. "You are making this too easy, Wheeler. I could beat you with my left hand and my right tied behind my back."

"Just you wait, rich boy. I'll beat you. I'm just giving ya a handicap. Your serve." Joey tossed the orange ball back over the net to the cocky brunette.

"I'll believe it when you score on me, mutt." Seto smirked, preparing to serve. The air crackled with the intensity of a duel. Picking up on the tension, Mokuba cheered.

"Come on, Joey! You can do it! Good Job, Seto, keep it up!" he would shout as the two finally got into a rally. Joey hit the tiny ball back, finally scoring a point on Seto.

"2-1, Kaiba," Joey taunted as Seto clutched the ball in his hand.

"Please, Wheeler, that was just a fluke. I won't lose to an amateur like you." Seto quickly served before Joey could snap back.

The game went on for a good half an hour. Joey got better at rallying with Seto, but couldn't score as easily against him.

"11-5 Wheeler. I win," Seto said, placing the paddle down on the table. "Now for your end of the bargain." Seto paused for a brief moment, "You will have to clean my pool for two months after it's built in your doggie Halloween Costume."

"We're getting a pool!" Mokuba shouted with excitement. "When are we building, Seto? How big will it be?" Seto was too distracted by Joey's shocked face to even make a comment to all his brother's questions.

"Are…are you serious Kaiba?" Joey stuttered, imagining himself cleaning a pool that that embarrassing outfit and Seto mocking him the entire time.

"I'm always serious, Wheeler," Kaiba said, ready to leave the rec room and go to bed for the night. After all, tomorrow was going to be the busiest day of the festival and he knew the three would need their rest for all the walking they would do.

Joey was upset at Seto's demands, but at the same time confused. Why would he go through the trouble of building a pool just to have Joey dress up? He could've just had Joey do some other demeaning task.

After Seto went to bed, Joey and Mokuba figured they might as well follow after even though Joey really wasn't tired at all. They settled down for bed and in thirty minutes Mokuba was snoozing, but Joey was wide awake.

Joey sat up and glanced over at Seto who was lying still as a rock; the only indication he was still alive was his light, steady breathing. Joey crawled over to sit next to Seto's head. He couldn't fully see the CEO's face in the dark, but he had the outlines and his imagination filled in the rest.

He felt bad for having rejected Seto in such a manner, but he truly had been nervous. Why? Maybe the idea of two men together still bothered him because he wasn't used to the idea. He was even more unused to the fact that HE was in a male-male relationship. He could have sworn before he was straight, but then this kick in the pants happened. It didn't help that back in middle school he had once helped beat up kids specifically because they weren't straight.

How could he make it up to Seto? He definitely wasn't going to kiss him in his sleep, that was just rude and unfair to Seto. Maybe the cheek? Forehead? Those would make good practice to help ease the awkwardness. He bent down, puckering his lips a little, but he was within less than an inch away from the skin before losing heart and straightening up again.

"I'm such a coward," Joey thought with a sigh. He noticed Seto's bangs had fallen at an odd angle and used his fingers to fix them. The chestnut locks were surprisingly silky, making Joey want to run his entire hand through them. As if he had the nerve. After watching Seto sleep for a few more minutes, he crawled back to his own mat and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

CM: Aw, poor Joey. Will he be able to make amends with his dragon? Stay tuned to find out!


	20. Bitter and Sweet

**Chapter Twenty: Bitter and Sweet **

_Chapter songs:_

_Across the Universe- I want you_

The next day was chillier than the last, something Joey hadn't thought possible, in more ways than one. Seto was giving him the cold shoulder despite all efforts to engage him. He had even caved and was wearing one of the outfits Seto had brought for him, a white under armor shirt and khaki pants, though he'd kept his usual green jacket. Seto looked at him once and hadn't spared a glance since.

When the evening rolled around and the temperature dropped to bone numbing degrees, Joey hit every warm sake stand they came across. At one point he noticed Seto staring at him while he was about to take a drink.

Awkwardly, Joey held it out to Seto like a peace offering. "Did you want some, Kaiba?"

Seto's eyes averted down to the cup as if just now realizing it existed before turning away without a word.

_"He could've at least said 'no',"_ Joey thought sadly. Was he still upset about last night? Well, it was Seto Kaiba. Being denied ANYTHING was a blow to his ego apparently. People were crowding everywhere to find a good place to watch the fireworks. Joey, Seto, and Mokuba were lucky enough to snag a bench seat.

"I'm gonna go get some sparklers," Mokuba said. "Be right back." It didn't take long before he disappeared amongst the masses of people.

Joey cursed Mokuba for leaving him, quite purposefully he suspected, in this awkward situation with Seto. He knew Mokuba was going to be a while because of the crowds of people. He hoped the kid would make it back in time. He was surprised Seto let him go off alone considering how often the kid seemed to get into trouble. Joey chanced a glance at Seto; unsurprisingly, Seto was sitting with his legs crossed, arms folded, and body turned away. Joey didn't need to be an expert on body language to know that clearly meant Seto would rather be chained to a stone cross than sitting with Joey right now.

Joey wanted to say something to Seto, but didn't know what or where to start. The silence was killing him, and every second felt longer now that Mokuba was gone. _"Come on, Joey, you can't mess up any more than you already have."_ Joey noticed Seto glancing at him again out of the corner of his eye, but once again quickly looked away. _"What is going through that head of his?"_ Joey breathed in heavily and said the first thing that came to his head. "So Kaiba are you excited about the fireworks?"

Kaiba cleared his throat before speaking. "I would rather be at work, but Mokuba is happy." The silence came once again after Seto's short response. It was blatantly obvious to Joey now that Seto truly didn't want to talk to Joey.

Mokuba finally came back, several sparklers in hand. "Joey, Seto, I bought sparklers for all of us." Mokuba handed one to Joey, who happily took it. "Come on, Seto. It will be fun." Mokuba continued to hold out the sparkler to his older brother, lightly tapping his foot. Kaiba took the sparkler from his brother's hand after a few moments of pointed staring.

The fireworks soon started, and the bright colors began to light up the sky. Mokuba lit his sparkler and excitedly waved it up and down as he watched the waves of red, blue, green, yellow and orange light up the sky.

Joey started to feel warm from the massive amounts of people watching the spectacle and all the warm fireworks and sparklers heating up the night. Joey took off his green jacket and placed it next to the bench as he joined Mokuba, running around with his sparkler bright in hand.

Mokuba and Joey had fun playing with the variety of personal fireworks Mokuba had purchased. Joey in particular enjoyed watching the spinners, which spun in a blazing ring before finishing with a pop. They also had fun throwing poppers at each other's feet. They ran around for a good half hour straight before Joey relaxed back down on the bench to catch his breath. Joey noticed that Seto was still holding his sparkler, unlit. Joey reached over with his lighter and lit the sparkler.

Seto glared at him to which Joey quickly responded with, "You know Mokuba would get after you if you didn't use it."

Seto apparently couldn't argue with that because he said nothing, opting instead to stare blankly at the sparkler, clearly unsure of what to do with it. Joey shook his head before once again reaching his hand over to gently grasp Seto's and lift the sparker up into the air. This was of course met with instant recoil.

"What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked roughly.

"Didn't you ever learn to have fun when you were a kid?" Joey replied. "You're supposed to wave it around, not hold it like a dead snake."

"Why would I want to wave something around and look like an idiot?" Kaiba asked scornfully.

Joey sighed. "Come on… just give me your arm. No one's looking."

Seto, extremely reluctantly, allowed Joey to take his hand and move it around, watching the blazing sparks go this way and that. "See? It ain't that hard."

Seto didn't reply, and when the sparkler fizzled out, Joey found he didn't want to let go of Seto's hand. Especially since after sitting for a while all the heat he'd built up while running around was gone. For the first time all day Seto looked him in the eye and Joey tried to use that opportunity to kill two birds with one stone by snuggling up to Seto, hoping perhaps that would help ease some of the frost around the CEO's heart.

"What do you think you're doing now, Wheeler?" Seto pushed Joey's body off of his.

Joey glared at the CEO. "Nothin'." Joey leaned back against the bench. _"That jerk, how can he not get it?"_ Joey looked over to Seto, who was now watching over his little brother. Mokuba was still excitedly running around and throwing poppers like the other kids his age.

_"I knew Joey would look good in that clothing but I didn't think he would look that good,"_ Seto thought looking over to the blond next to him. The white under armor showed off Joey's every curve and toned muscle, making it hard for Seto to stay mad at the blond for the rejected kiss the other night. _"The mutt is making it hard for me to control myself right now."_ When Joey tried snuggling up to the CEO it didn't help much either. _"I'll just focus on Mokuba for now."_ Seto stared intently at his little brother, knowing that if he looked at the blond sitting next to him anymore he really wouldn't want to control his urges. _"Well, at least Mokuba is having a good time. I have not seen him smile like this in a long time."_ Seto looked down at his clock to check the time. People were slowly starting to leave, and the fireworks were beginning to die down.

"Seto, this is so much fun. Can we come back again next winter?" Mokuba said, coming back to the two teenagers when all his sparklers and poppers were gone. Seto nodded, but Mokuba knew that the nod was more of a 'we'll see' than a definite 'yes'.

"Are you ready to head back home?" Seto asked, getting up from the bench as the fireworks started to die down.

"Yep, let's go back. I'm getting tired," Mokuba said as Seto pulled out his phone to summon a ride back to the Blue Eyes jet.

After the car ride, followed by the jet ride, Mokuba was out like a light by the time they got back to the mansion. Kaiba gently lifted his brother up in his arms and carried him off the jet with Joey following behind.

"Did you need a ride home, Wheeler?" Seto asked Joey when they reached the front door.

"Nah, I'll walk," Joey said. Even though it was chilly and his feet hurt, he just didn't feel like accepting one of Seto's charity rides. "Oh, I promise I'll get your clothes back to ya soon as I can."

"Those are for you, Wheeler," Seto told him. "No arguments. If you don't want to wear them, then don't. But they're yours."

"Right, okay. Thanks for having me along," Joey said awkwardly. Seto nodded and closed the door behind him. Joey began walking home, the night was colder than usual, although the clothing Seto gave him was warm, he could still feel the chill.

The walk was silent, and no one else was around. Joey noticed a Lamborghini Diablo pull up next to him. It was hard to tell the color of the car in the night, but it look almost like a dark red or blue. The passenger door opened and Seto was sitting in the driver's seat. "Get in the car, Wheeler," he said.

"You can drive?" Joey said, confused, hesitant to do as told. Seto didn't answer, simply staring at him with impatience. Finally, Joey sighed and got into the car, knowing protesting would be pointless. As soon as he was seated, he shut the door and Seto began to drive off.

"Yes, Wheeler, I can drive." Seto finally said, to Joey's surprise, turning down the classical music he had playing when Joey had climbed in.

"But then why do you always have someone driving you around?" Joey asked, since this was the first time he ever saw the CEO drive on his own.

"It's easier to be driven around," Seto said, gaze fixed on the road ahead. The car soon became silent, except for Joey's direction to his home.

_"I really don't want Kaiba knowing where I live. Maybe I'll have him drop me off a few blocks before my apartment complex,"_ Joey thought as he noticed they were soon approaching his complex. "You can let me off here," Joey said, seeing his complex was two blocks away. Seto stopped the car, and allowed Joey to get out of the car. "Thanks for the ride." Joey closed the door, but Seto pulled down the window as if he wanted to say something, but held it back. Instead, he turned around and drove off the other way, leaving Joey alone in the dark night.

* * *

It was another quiet day in the Kaiba mansion. Seto was sitting in his chair with his newspaper in hand and a cup of black coffee next to him. Mokuba and Joey had their eyes glued to the TV, hot chocolate clasped in their own hands. Waiting for the commercials to finish, Joey's eyes moved to the window where he saw white flakes sticking to the outside of the glass. Joey tapped Mokuba on the shoulder and pointed towards the window; their evil ploy was in action.

"Seto!" Mokuba slyly said, getting beside the armrest of the chair. "It's snowing! Let's go outside."

"NO, Mokuba" Seto replied flatly, turning the page of his paper, ending the topic at that.

"Come on, Kaiba, even you need fun once in a while," Joey chimed in while smashing the paper into Seto's lap. Seto sent a death glare at Joey.

"I was having fun reading about my stocks dominating everyone else," Seto said almost matter-of-factly.

"Please, Seto," Mokuba said with big puppy eyes.

"I already said 'no', Mokuba." But as soon as Seto turned his head to look back at Joey, he saw another pair of puppy eyes coming from Joey. Seto angrily put his newspaper aside, hating himself for falling into Joey's puppy eyes. "Fine, we'll go outside." There was ice colder than the snow outside in Seto's voice.

The three of them stepped outside of the mansion and just like new born puppies, Mokuba and Joey were romping around in the snow. They threw their heads back and tongues out, trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths. At one point, they both fell backwards into the snow and started to make snow angles. Seto didn't mind Mokuba doing that, but seeing Joey act immaturely was a tad aggravating. He even got more aggravated with Joey when a freshly packed snowball hit him square in that back. Seto went to shoot a death glare at Joey, but he innocently smiled, pointing to Mokuba, who mirrored him down to the innocent sparkle in his eye.

"Come on, pups," Seto grumbled continuing to walk towards the park. He sat down on one of the many benches and watched as Mokuba started to make a snowman. Joey plopped down next to Seto, smiling wide between chattering teeth. Seto noticed the teeth chattering. "It's your own fault for running around in the snow dressed like that," Seto reproached, noting the fact that Joey was just wearing his usual street clothing.

"Come on, Kaiba, I might be dying of hypothermia," Joey said as his teeth chattered even louder. The snow began to fall harder.

"Do you even know what hypothermia is, Wheeler?" Seto asked mockingly.

Joey paused for a minute. "It has something ta do with the cold," Joey finally proclaimed confidently.

As Seto went to cross his arms in disapproval, he felt a bulge in his jacket pocket. He remembered it was the iPod he had been planning to give Joey on Christmas. After some contemplation, he decided that now was as good of time as any to give him the present. Seto pulled the iPod out and handed it to the teeth-chattering Joey. "Merry belated Christmas," Seto grumbled.

"Christmas was over a week ago!" Joey exclaimed without even looking at that gift. When he finally looked down he noticed an iPod. It was the same shade of pink as the cell phone he received many months ago. Joey started to look down the playlist and didn't recognize any of the names of the 'bands'. _"Bach, Beethoven? Who are they?"_ Joey wondered in confusion continuing to scroll down the list.

He noticed one song that didn't look like the rest and decided to click on it. A peppy love song started to play loudly for both Seto and Joey to hear. Even Mokuba heard the music, and began to laugh quietly so Seto and Joey could not hear him. He was the one that put the peppy love song in the iPod as a joke. The end result, the look of Joey's and Seto's faces, was priceless.

After Joey ended the bizarre song that he knew Seto didn't put in there, he waited to hear some words of thanks for the iPod from Joey. "Why pink?" was what Joey said instead.

"I thought it would match your phone," was all Seto said, dead serious. This irritated Joey quite a bit. His friends already made fun of the fact he had a pink cell phone, but now they had something new to tease him about too. Despite the fact of it being pink, Joey did like the iPod. He had been wanting one, but never had the money to afford one on his own.

"Thanks, Kaiba," Joey finally said, pocketing away the Ipod, planning in his mind what bands to put in it later.

The two looked back over to Mokuba and noticed that the snowman was complete and the boy was already starting an igloo. The snow slowed down again, and Seto shook the flakes off of his hair lightly with his hand. He looked down at Joey again, noticing that he was still shivering. Seto pulled Joey in close to his body and wrapped his arms gently around.

Joey felt the warmth from Seto instantly seep into his body. His cheeks were turning an even brighter red, not from the snow, but from the fact that Seto was showing affection in a public place. No one was around to see this display in public, so Joey knew that's why Seto was doing it, but it still made him happy. Joey cocked his head up to look at Seto.

Seto gazed coolly back at him. "You're lips are turning blue, Wheeler," Seto said, leaning close. This time Joey knew what to expect. Before Joey knew it Seto's lips were on top of his The first touch of Seto's lips against his own seemed strangely tentative, as though Seto was afraid Joey would pull away again. The first instigation was quickly followed by a warmer press, however, and the fleeting hesitance was swept from Joey's mind as the kiss deepened. This one kiss almost made Seto seem loving; that all those months of torture were because he couldn't get his feelings out, which scared Joey.

Joey withdrew from the kiss, confusion evident in his features. "What are you doing, Kaiba? We're in plain sight." he asked wide-eyed.

"Be quiet, Joseph," Seto said, his hand cupping Joey's cheek and pulling him in for another kiss.

"Se… Kaiba…" Joey quietly whispered as their lips were once again locked. Mokuba looked over towards his brother and Joey only to see them in the middle of the moment. His face went red with embarrassment and he decided to hide inside his igloo until it was over.

This time, when the kiss ended, Seto pulled away from Joey. Joey licked his lips a little and he detected a faint bitterness. At the same time Seto was noting that Joey had tasted rather…sweet.

"We better get going before you freeze to death and then I am forced to find another employee. Come on, Mokuba." Seto stood up from the bench whereas Joey was still sitting there dazed over what just happened.

As Mokuba crawled out of his igloo and ran towards him, Joey was still playing the kiss over in his mind. It had felt... really nice. It had been soft and warm, totally NOT like the Kaiba he was used to.

"What are you grinning about, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked in annoyance, seeing that Joey was still sitting down. "Didn't you hear me? I said it's time to go."

Joey hadn't realized he had been smiling and quickly tried to sober himself, but he couldn't help it. He almost felt like he won the lottery. He rose from the bench to join the two brothers.

"This was fun, Seto. We should do this again," said Mokuba.

"Hn... maybe," Seto said noncommittally.

Mokuba laughed before taking Seto's left hand in his right and then grabbing Joey's right hand with his left. "Let's be together, always."

* * *

KD: Yay! First kiss! Though my co-write says it was too lovey dovey, but I think pushing the envelope now and again is okay (wink wink). So what's to come next? Where will the relationship go? Stay tuned! And please review, even if its to complain or give (constructive) critism.


	21. Janurary 25

KD: Hope you all enjoyed the April Fools Day chapter. I hope you have it burned in your memories because we're never posting that thing again. For those of you who missed it, better luck next year. Here's the real chapter. Enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty-One: January 25**

_Birthday – The Beatles_

Joey slowly rolled out of bed as his alarm clock started beeping. With a yawn and big stretch Joey remembered what today was, January 25, his 17th birthday. His friends were taking him to the arcade, for gaming and pizza, then to Yugi's house for hanging out. Joey almost half-wished that Seto would spend his birthday with him. Then again, he was not one for celebrating, period. Joey opened his phone to see if perhaps he got a happy birthday text at least, but that was not the case.

He finally got ready and headed to the arcade to meet up with his friends. As he stepped into the arcade he saw Yugi, Tristan, Ryou, and Duke all huddled together around one of the dance machines watching Tea trying to be her own high score. "Hey guys!" Joey said heading over to his friend ready to play some games and spend time with them.

"Happy Birthday, Joey," Yugi said with his usual enthusiasm.

"Ya, man, Happy Birthday," Tristan said grabbing Joey by the neck and giving him a noogie.

"Happy 17th, Joey." Ryou added sweetly.

Joey got a goofy grin. "Thanks, guys. Now let's play some games." Joey excitedly ran off to the other side of the arcade with Tristan to play a zombie shooting game together. Ryou followed along watching them and cheering from behind.

After the two teens lost all their lives, they placed the blue and red guns back in the holsters and gave each other high fives. "Great game man," Tristan started. "I've never seen you play that great before."

Joey scoffed. "Well I am Joey Wheeler." He turned around to Ryou, "Do you want to play anything, Ryou?"

"I think I'd like to have a go at that zombie game, if that's alright," Ryou said with a smile.

"Eh, if you're sure," Joey said handing Ryou the player 2 plastic gun.

"You two have fun, I think I'm gonna try the Guitar Hero," Tristan told them before wandering off.

During the first round Joey completely smoked Ryou who laughed forebodingly. "Hm, I think I see how this works now. Let's have another go."

"Sure thing, buddy," Joey said, though secretly wishing for more of a challenge. He got his wish. Ryou made a glorious comeback, scoring over Joey.

"That'll make those zombies think twice, eh, Joey?" Ryou asked good-naturedly.

_'I swear, sometimes the guy freaks me out,'_ Joey thought. "Great job, Ryou. You're a really fast learner."

"Thanks, Joey," said Ryou and his smile turned into a smirk. "Though I suppose the same can't be said for you."

"Lemme guess," Joey said, his face falling into a frown. "Bakura, right? What are you doing here?"

"You don't sound very happy to see me," Bakura said in mock hurt. "I'm here on my vessel's request. He said that something has been off with you lately; so he wants me to talk to you."

Joey was taken aback, he never realized how observant Ryou really was, nor did he understand Bakura fully. "Come here," Joey said grabbing Bakura's sleeve and pulling him towards the men's room.

"What do you think you're doing, mortal?" Bakura demanded gruffly, not appreciating being touched by the blond. He got enough of that from his companion.

"This isn't exactly a conversation I wanna have out in the open," said Joey as they entered the bathroom, checking to make sure no one was inside.

Bakura freed himself from Joey's grasp. "Let's get this over with. So what's the problem?"

"Well, things have been going good for the most part, I guess," Joey said rubbing the back of his head. "But… I dunno. I don't really know where either of us is standing. We're going through all the motions but…"

"You're not sure if there's any fuel to go with that fire," Bakura surmised.

"Ya, I guess. I know he is not one for words…But still…how am I supposed ta know how he really feels if he's only conveying through actions alone?" Joey paused for a brief minute. "I know they say actions speak louder than words, but how am I 'possed to know the thoughts behind those actions?"

"You virgins and your insecurities," Bakura sighed with a shake of his head. "It's perfectly clear to me that you simply can't stand the neglect."

"Huh, whaddya mean?" Joey asked feeling insulted and embarrassed at the same time.

"Oh come now," Bakura said pointing at Joey. "You're the type who thrives on attention, be it good or bad, but dear Seto is so preoccupied with his other love interest that he can scarcely find time to give you either."

"I don't need to be the center of attention, Bakura." Joey knew he was in denial, but was not ready to admit it. "And I know how important his work is to him." Joey sighed. "But…but…"

Tristan opened the bathroom door, and saw the two teens in there. "What are you guys doing in here?" His eyes scanned back and forth between the two teenagers curiously.

"Uh…Tristan, don't you have ta use the bathroom?" Joey quickly asked hoping to distract him. He didn't want his best friend to hear what he was talking to Bakura about. As Tristan stepped to the bathroom, the conversation abruptly came to an end, but Joey did get something out of it. He did live on attention; he wanted people to recognize him, whether it was in Duel Monsters or his love life.

Joey and Bakura who was now reverted back to Ryou returned to everyone else to play some more games. "Let's play a game, Joey," Duke said from behind the blond. "Two player pinball. What do ya say?" There was a slight seduction to Duke's voice, but Joey was too oblivious to it, thinking about what Bakura said to him.

"Ya, Duke, sure." Joey followed him to one of the pinball machines. Duke didn't seem as bad as he did at the Halloween party to Joey, but then again, his other friends were around them watching the start of the pinball game.

After they were done at the arcade and had their fill of pizza and soda, the gang went to Yugi's house for cake and presents.

"Make a wish, Joey," Yugi said as he placed the cake shaped like the back of a duel monster's card with seventeen lit candles on it.

Joey thought for several moments. _"Let's see, I wanna get to see my little sis more often, my dad's debt's all paid off, my own place, and… I want Kaiba to acknowledge me. Oh ya, and my own race car."_ Then he took a deep breath and blew the candles out.

"So, whaddya wish for?" Tristan asked.

"If I told ya, it wouldn't come true, would it?" Joey replied smartly, wagging his finger back and forth.

"Guess not man," Tristan said with a sigh, wanting to know what it was about. Yugi cut up the cake and began handing it out. It was a marble cake with mint chip ice cream filling.

"This cake is amazing," Joey said between bites, going for a second and then third piece. Everyone watched and laughed as they were still on their first slices. They had to hold back their laughs a bit though, they didn't was the birthday boy to realize that black and brown frosting was covered on his face after the second slice.

Yugi's grandpa came in the living room taking in the festivities. "Yugi there is a young boy down stairs that says he's here to give something to Joey. His name is Mokuba. Do you know him?" He asked quizzically.

"Bring him in, grandpa," Yugi said cheerfully. His grandpa left down the stairs back into the game shop and a few moments later Mokuba came up with a sky blue gift bag in tow.

"Hi, everyone." Mokuba said while looking at everyone in the room. "And happy birthday, Joey."

"Would you like some cake, Mokuba?" Tea asked getting a plate ready for him just in case.

"No thank you, Tea. I can't stay long. I just came to drop off Joey's gift and wish him a happy birthday." He lifted the bag up incase no one noticed it. "Well, I better get going. The car is still running down stairs and I don't want to keep Roland waiting. See you later, guys." Mokuba waved good bye before running off down the stairs.

"Well, since Mokuba brought his present, let's do everyone's gifts now," Tea suggested as she placed the blue bag on the table with the rest.

"Sure," Joey said after consuming his fifth and largest piece of cake.

"Mine first!" Tristan quickly said as if it were a contest. He grabbed the small box wrapped in black and red stripped wrapping paper and shoved it in Joey's face.

Joey ripped off the wrapping paper and there was a black leather watch in a clear box. A Red Eyes was imprinted in the center of the watch. "Thanks, man, it's great," Joey said taking the watch out of its box to look at it better.

"Well, you have had that same watch since Junior High. So I thought it was time for a change," Tristan had a big goofy grin on his face, feeling accomplished that Joey liked the watch so much.

Yugi handed Joey his gift next; it was 12 packs of cards. Joey opened each pack excitedly and actually got a few decent cards to put in his deck. "Thanks, Yug, these cards will be great in my deck."

Yugi just smiled. He knew his gift was predictable, but it made Joey happy and that's what mattered. Tea grabbed her light purple bag and handed it to Joey, he took out the tissue paper feverishly and saw a brown leather bound book. He opened the latch and it was a day to day calendar/planner.

"I thought since you have been doing so much better in school you would find this useful."

Joey dug in the bag a little more and found a pocket book full of practice problems for college exams. Joey was confused on how those two things qualified as birthday gifts, but took them with a smile and thanked her.

"Mine next," Duke said handing a small package to Joey that was wrapped in newspaper. Joey opened it and blushed feverishly hiding it behind his back.

"What is it Joey?" Yugi asked confused what could be causing Joey's face to be so red. Tristan grabbed the small package from behind Joey's back and started laughing.

"Well, Joey, Tristan told me you had a girlfriend so I thought you might find them useful."

_"Like Kaiba would ever use sex dice,"_ Joey thought to himself, but soon heard Tea scolding Duke once she saw what the gift was, still leaving Yugi in the dark.

"Check to see what I got, Joey," Ryou said anticipating.

Joey was a little worried but went ahead and opened the gift. There were two things inside. One was an electronic doggie giga pet, and the other... "Hey, Battle Royale. Thanks, Ryou."

"Don't forget Mokuba's gift," Tea reminded, handing the bag out to him.

Joey opened the bag and pulled out two things. One was a wrapped box and the other was a gift card for iTunes to put music on his i-pod. Joey pulled the wrapping off the box and opened it to reveal a dog tag necklace. Joey let out an audible wow as he saw the front of the dog tag had his name and beneath it a compilation of his favorite duel monsters (Red eyes, time wizard, scapegoats, and his graceful and skull dice cards) engraved into the metal.

"Whoa, that's cool," Tristan murmured trying to hold back his irritation. "Must be nice to be able to afford stuff like that."

Joey smiled and put the necklace on.

"Thanks again, everyone. Everything is really great." Joey started to put all his stuff together in one bag that way he wouldn't lose anything (even the dice). After everyone talked for a few hours and a few card games were played, everyone decided to call it a night since they had school in the morning. Tristan and Joey started to walk home together when they left the game shop. "Thanks again, man, but why did you have to tell Duke about my girlfriend?" Joey said there was a slight pause before the word girlfriend, but Tristan didn't think much of it.

"Duke and I have actually been hanging out when you're at work. He's actually an Ok guy once you get past his ego," Tristan replied, "I kinda told him about your girlfriend on accident though. Sorry." Tristan was laughing, his hand behind his head.

_"Well maybe this means Duke didn't think too much into the Halloween party then,"_ Joey thought before answering his friend. "It's ok, man. Well, here is where we part." Joey waved bye as he approached his apartment complex. He opened his front door, only to see his dad asleep on the couch. Joey quietly shut the front door and headed into his room. He dug through his bag and pulled out the Battle Royal book to start reading it, but noticed that the book was just pictures, of both man and women in different positions on beds, couches, tables, even in bath tubs and showers. _"WHAT IS THIS!"_ Joey turned back a few pages, and saw the title on the front page of the book, _365 Days of Sex. _"Bakura," Joey thought remembering it was from Ryou. Joey's anger was delayed when he noticed his phone was going off and flashing _One New Message_, Joey opened the text.

To: Joey Wheeler

From: Seto Kaiba

_You better not lose it, Wheeler._

Joey shut his phone. _"Lose what?" _He looked down at his new necklace that he thought was from Mokuba. For a moment he thought it might have been from Kaiba, but knew his feelings about birthdays. _"Maybe it is…"_ Joey grabbed the tag and examined it more closely looking for any sign that it was from Kaiba. He turned the tag around and noticed in small print at the bottom of the tag: _Property of SK_.

Later that evening….

"Bakura!" Malik's scream could be heard all throughout the apartment. "I can't find my book! I know I had it yesterday!"

"Oh, I'm sure it's around somewhere, keep looking," Bakura said with an evil smirk.

* * *

KD: Yay! See, Kaiba can still be nice and still be kept in character. Anyways, happy April everyone! Stay tuned and we'll see you next time!


	22. Trisconception

KD: Well, sadly we've lost contact with our editor, so we're doing the editing ourselves for the time being. Hopefully it's okay. Forgive us for the minor errors that we may miss.

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Trisconception**

_Song for chapter:_

_Secret Agent Man- Johnny Rivers_

"Hey, man, wanna hang out today?" Tristan asked Joey as school came to a close. It had been several days since the two teens hung out on Joey's birthday. He wanted to spend more time with his closest friend, but knew how busy he has been with work.

"Sorry, man, I gotta work today," Joey said as he threw his bag over his shoulder "But maybe next time." Joey dashed out of the room, looking down at his new watch realizing that if he didn't get a move on he would be late.

_"What does he do at work anyways? He still won't invite any of us to see him there. He never talks about it either,"_ Tristan thought as he started to walk home. _"Kaiba Land isn't too far from here... No, he's your best friend, trust him."_ Tristan was having an inner conflict in his head and not sure which way to go. He was so lost in thought he didn't even realize he was heading in the direction of the park until he saw the towering building a few blocks away. This made him think about how big of a pompous jerk Kaiba was, inflating his own ego even more, building his own park. Well, since he was already almost there… _"Joey says he works with children, but I don't see this place having anything like a day care."_

Tristan saw an electronic board near the front of the park with the daily activities; learning the basics of dueling, intermediate dueling, advance dueling, shows and the current duels that were scheduled to happen and what time they would start. _"He could be teaching a dueling class, but I don't see Kaiba ever giving Joey a job like that. After all, he doesn't respect him as a person, let alone a duelist. But it's worth a shot."_

Tristan entered the park and popped in on some of the seminars going on, but could not find the poofy haired teen anywhere. Tristan sighed wondering if he was ever going to find Joey in such a huge place without accidentally getting spotted first.

"Step right up here kids to meet the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" Tristan heard a girl announce in a loud peppy voice. "He gives hugs, he takes pictures, and he can sign your character book! Single file please!"

Tristan glanced over as he spotted a cute looking female worker standing with someone dressed up as the announced duel monsters card. _"Wow, must suck to be that person. I would never..."_ Tristan did a double take when he caught sight of the person's face. "Joey?" Joey was too distracted with the kids to notice anything else but Tristan hid behind the empty cotton candy vendor nonetheless, just in case. _"Oh man, now THIS is the kind of job I'd picture Kaiba forcing Joey to do. The jerk."_

Tristan took another look at the girl working with him. He wondered if that was Joey's girlfriend. It would make sense if the two were constantly working together. The girl must have a fetish for men in costume. He watched as the kids came and went, losing all track of time. Eventually the two of them must have gone on break because the girl and Joey both were getting ready to leave after the girl placed a sign that had a listing of viewing times where they were standing.

"Doing great, Celtic Guardian!" Kit said patting Joey on the back as the two started to walk away from their spot together and off into what looked like an employee only area.

Tristan stayed at a close distance behind the two, hoping to hear Joey talk, but he didn't say a word. After all he was supposed to stay in character the entire time the public eye could see him. He saw the girl slide her employee pass into the card reader at the door and opened it for Joey. "You sit down, Joey. I'll go get you some water." Tristan slid through the door before it closed shut and saw the hallways with numerous doors and windows.

Tristan saw Joey and the girl enter the room with the label 'Employee Break Room'. He ducked down under the window that was placed before the door hoping no one would walk by to see him spying. He listened hard to hear what they were saying behind the wall.

"Thanks, Kit. "Joey happily took the water and started to chug it down. "This armor gets so heavy some times, and the kids don't help much."

"Chin up, Joey. You are doing great. Just think about how much you have progressed since you first started." She grabbed a bottle herself and started to sip it. "Oh ya, Joey, I almost forgot. Happy belated Birthday. I'm sorry again I couldn't make it to your party, but I couldn't get my shift switched. I would have loved to have met your friends." Kit held out a light pink bag that was endowed in frilly ribbons and rose-scented tissue paper.

_"That has to be Joey's girlfriend,"_ Tristan continued to think, trying to peep over the window without being seen. He was having difficulties seeing what she was handing Joey.

Joey opened the bag and saw a bobble head, googly eyed Watapon at the bottom of the bag. Joey took it out and lightly tapped it, watching the body twang up and down as the eyes rolled all over the place. "I thought it was perfect since Watapon was you're first and all. Plus it's super cute," Kit said looking at it with cutesie eyes.

"Thanks, Kit, but you didn't have ta get me anything," Joey said slightly embarrassed by the pink fluff ball in his hand, but at the same time was almost touched by its symbolic meaning.

"Of course I did, silly," Kit said hugging Joey. "Of all the people I work with, you're by far the greatest. Thanks for making it fun."

"Same to you," Joey said smiling. "If I didn't have you ta help me out, those kids would eat me alive. You've been a big help ever since I started, so thanks."

"You're such a sweetie," Kit giggled snuggling him. "It makes me want to huggle you to death."

"As fun as that sounds, let's not. I can just imagine what Kaiba would say if I died on the job."

Both of them laughed at this.

_"Wow, no doubt about it,"_ Tristan thought from his window watching. _"Those two are together. I've never seen a girl hug Joey like that."_

He saw the girl, whose name he now knew was Kit, get up from her chair. "I'm going to the restroom. We should probably head back out when I get back." Tristan saw her getting up and started to panic. He needed to move and fast before he was noticed. He slowly started to crawl away, but forgot which door he needed to go out of.

_"Crap where do I go? Just blend, Taylor, and no one will suspect you."_ Tristan started to walk around as if he knew where he was going.

Kit saw this stranger a few steps after she left the break room. She started to dash, gaining speed, "Intruder alert!" She shouted football tackling Tristan from the rear. He fell face flat on the ground, with the petite, but still limber girl on top of him. "How did you get in here? I have never seen you before." Tristan tried to answer her, but his response came out muffled since his face was smashed into the tile flooring. Kit finally realized this after a few moments. "Sorry." She got off of Tristan, using the full force of her body on his to get herself up.

Tristan sat up, rubbing his now pink cheek as he saw the girl hold out her hand to help him up. "You can really tackle can't you?" He said wiping himself off as he stood up.

Kit just smiled serenely at him. "Basic female employee training. So how did you get in here?" She said trying to get back on track. "This is employees only and I know I have never seen you here before." She circled Tristan as a shark would its prey, waiting for his response.

"Well…um. I'm friends with Joey, and I have been worried about him lately," Tristan started, thinking since this was Joey's girlfriend she would know what's wrong. "He never talks about his job and he seems kinda distant lately. So I came to see if I could figure out what's wrong with him."

Kit saw how worried this guy was about Joey and felt more at ease talking to him. "I'm Kit by the way." She said introducing herself. "And I have not noticed Joey acting weird at all. If you want I can ask him for you….Um, what's your name?" she said feeling bad that she didn't know who this person was.

"Tristan, Tristan Taylor."

"Well, Tristan, I can ask him if something is wrong. I don't know how much help I'll be, but seeing that you went this far for Joey, he must be really special to you," Kit said almost with a fan girl like sparkle in her eyes.

"Can you not tell him I was following you guys?" Tristan added, strongly pleading to the girl he just met.

"Mum's the word," She said winking while holding her index finger to her lips. "Now you should probably get out of here before someone else finds you." Kit ran off remembering she had to use the bathroom, away from Tristan's sight. Tristan eventually found his way out of the large employee building.

_"Well at least she seems nice enough for Joey. I really don't see her as the hicky giving type though. I just wonder why Joey is keeping her and his job such a secret."_ Tristan left the park, figuring he would go visit Joey when he got off work. _"Maybe I shouldn't pry since I know this much for now, but something still seems off to me."_

* * *

Bakura just got home, and his nose was assaulted with the stench of burnt sugar. Not only that, his apartment looked like a mess. He saw three cookbooks, along with a plethora of cooking supplies sprawled out taking over the entire kitchen. The TV was on to some random cooking channel, where an elderly woman was baking a cake. However, no other body could be found as his eyes scanned the room.

Finally the front door opens, and there the Egyptian was with four grocery bags in hand. A wide smile was on his face, while he was humming a tune, which for some reason irked Bakura. The smell of cake was now apparent to the other male and the alarm on the oven was beeping. Without a word to the white haired male he flew to the kitchen in a panic, sending half his groceries in a trail behind him. Bakura finally realized what the roommate was doing, and why he was doing it.

* * *

Joey stared forlornly through the display window at all of the packaged chocolates, heart shaped boxes, bags tied with ribbon, all in differing shades of pink, red, or white. Valentine's Day was nigh, a scant few days away, and all the girls in Domino high were already abuzz. Joey enjoyed the holiday, because he usually got at least one or two gifts from random admirers, or from his friend, Tea. He was a big fan of chocolate, and welcomed it when it came. For the past several days though, he wondered if he should possibly get something for his current significant other. He was struggling with this for several reasons; for example, Valentine's day was the day the girls gave chocolates, and also because he knew that out of every male in the school, Seto would be the one to receive the most chocolate…well next to Duke that is. Lucky bastards. Also, Joey knew Seto didn't have much of a sweet tooth, and all the chocolates he received on Valentine's Day most likely either ended up in the garbage or given to Mokuba.

The thing that kept the idea in Joey's head was that he really did want to show Seto that he cared, and that he did see him as someone who held a special place in Joey's heart. Joey had tried making his own chocolate which resulted in him nearly setting the entire kitchen on fire. He was going to be hearing his dad complain about how the house smelled like burnt chocolate for a while to come. Now he was thinking he should just bite the bullet and buy Seto the chocolate. Maybe he could give the CEO something on the side, something he could use. What though? It's not like there wasn't anything in the world Seto couldn't get himself if he wanted it. After a few more minutes, Joey headed to school with the intention of doing some shopping later on in the hopes it may spark some ideas.

* * *

While everyone else was excited for Valentine's Day, there were a select few who had other things on their minds. One of them, of course, was Seto Kaiba who wouldn't have remembered the holiday at all had his brother not brought it up after delivering the results of their latest testing.

"So, Seto," Mokuba said leaning against the edge of his elder brother's desk. "Whatcha got planned for Valentine's Day?"

"Planned?" Seto asked looking up from his computer at his younger sibling.

"Don't tell me you forgot," Mokuba said in disbelief.

"I have more important things to remember than a useless holiday such as Valentine's Day," declared Seto, returning his attention to the test results, scanning over them.

"How can you say that?" asked Mokuba.

"Valentine's Day is nothing more than a means for stores to boost their sales with the excessive purchasing of lovesick idiots," Seto said matter-of-factly flipping to the next page. "Why should I help support something I find completely pointless?"

"It would make Joey happy," Mokuba pointed out.

"You better go, before you're late to school," Seto told his brother, bring the conversation to a close.

Mokuba pouted but before he left said, "You know Joey's gonna get you something. I think it's only fair you return the favor somehow."

Seto acted like he hadn't heard, but a thoughtful expression appeared on his face as he continued his job.

* * *

KD: Ohohoho! What's Seto planning this time? Guess you'll have to wait an see won't you? ;)

IMPORTANT NOTE: A good friend of ours has draw a fanart picture didicated to a scene in chapter 14. It's really cute and well done in our opinion. If you want to check it out, it's on deviantart under the title "The Truth Enslaved" by VP-Land-of-La. Sorry, fanfiction wouldn't let me post the actual link. :-/

Also, I guess another person was inspired to draw a pic dedicated to the halloween party in chapter 10. Not only were we immensely flattered but we thought it was really well done. It's also on deviantart under "Puppyshipping" by Reyson7.

A big thanks to both these artists. You guys are awesome!


	23. Diabetes in a Cup

KD: Valentines day part two! Hooray! We had actually wanted to post this chapter closer to Valentine's Day, but sadly delays happened, and we didn't feel cruel enough to make you guys wait a whole year for it. So here ya go!

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Diabetes in a Cup**

_Song for chapter: _

_Youngstown- Could you love me_

School trudged along slowly, and Joey was tired of hearing the girls talk about their homemade chocolates and who they were going to give them to (AKA Seto/Duke). He knew he shouldn't worry about it. After all, he and Seto have been together for several months now and it had been, oddly enough, smooth sailing for the both of them. No one suspected anything could be going on between the two. Well, except Bakura, but he was in a similar boat so Joey felt that he could trust him.

After school was over, Joey went to the shopping center to find Kaiba a gift. After all, Tea was busy perfecting her usual chocolates, Tristan was spending the day with Serenity (Much to Joey's dislike) and Yugi had to help his grandfather at the shop.

"What do I even get the richest man in Domino City? He could have everything he wants served to him on a silver platter." Joey went into shop after shop, seeing knickknacks and trinkets that would hold no use to Seto. He was a practical man after all; he would want something useful and sensible."What is something useful and practical that he likes besides Blue eyes white dragons and gravity defying trench coats?" Joey walked by a plushie shop and saw some Blue eyes White Dragon plushies in the window next to a Red Eyes and a Kuriboh. "That's cool lookin'." Joey soon placed his face close to the window like a little kid during Christmas. "I could just imagine what Kaiba would do if I bought it for him," Joey thought back long ago to his reactions to the Toon Blue Eyes that Pegasus had.

_"No! You stripped him of his pride!"_

Joey's nose soon smelt the familiar scent of coffee. After all, Kaiba's veins seemed to be full of coffee instead of blood. Joey couldn't think of a time that Seto didn't have a cup of pitch black coffee in hand. Joey let his nose lead him to the coffee shop. It was decorated in shades of red, pink, and white, with hearts all over the place. There were bags of coffee that were tied together in heart shaped lace. There was a chalk board that said:

Buy any extra large beverage get a free 12oz bag of Coffee.

Some restrictions may apply. See Associate for details.

Joey looked at the price of an extra large hot chocolate and the price of just a bag of coffee. He picked up a bag of Sumatra Black Satin Roast Coffee. He hadn't the faintest idea what the bag meant by dark roast, but thought the smell of the beans was similar to something Seto would like. He took the bag to the register and the lady asked him if he would like a drink to get the coffee for free. Joey ordered a hot chocolate with a double pump of mint, one pump caramel, extra whip cream and extra cocoa powder on top.

The man behind Joey got close to his ear. "That's a good choice." The voice was friendly, but still sounded a little rough. Joey was startled by this voice and turned around and saw a "pretty boy" with pale blonde hair, tanned skin, and dark eyeliner. "Might I also suggest a marble mocha with one pump strawberry, two pumps banana, with double whip and caramel syrup on top?"

Joey was perplexed that this random guy was talking to him, and giving him drink advice no less. "Uh…Thanks, I'll remember that," Joey said hesitantly. The guy didn't seem too bad, besides his odd taste in style. "Did you wanna join me?" Joey nodded to an empty table after both boys had their beverages in hand.

"The person I'm meeting up with hasn't arrived yet. So sure, that would be nice." He sat down across from Joey. Both boys pulled out their ipods and paused them. "What kind of music do you like listening to?" he asked seeing the bubblegum pink iPod in Joey's hand.

"I like classic rock, Nirvana, AC/DC, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeplin. You?" Joey saw the bright orange iPod in the tanned boy's hand.

"Oh, I like Green Day, Yellowcard, The Offspring, and Hawthorne Heights. More of the Alternative Rock you would say?" he said in almost a questioning voice.

"So you're into the more the modern day but still underplayed kinda music," Joey noted. "I grew up with this kind of music."

"I didn't really grow up with anything," the guy stated blankly. "By the way, I don't believe I got your name."

"Oh, right. The name's Joey Wheeler. Ya may have heard of me," said Joey with a smug look.

"Nope, not at all." Oh, the innocent bluntness.

This knocked a chunk out of Joey's pride but he quickly recovered. "So, what do folks call you?"

"I'm Malik Ishtar," the prettier blonde stated with a smile. "Your music sounds interesting. If possible, I wouldn't mind getting a few songs from you."

"Don't see why not, I'm always up for a trade," Joey said taking a sip of his diabetes-in-a-cup drink. "So, you were saying something about waiting for someone?"

Malik nodded. "Yes, my partner. I accidentally made a mess of our kitchen trying to make chocolates for Valentine's Day, but sadly I'm still a little rusty with cooking."

"No kidding," Joey said with a soft laugh. "I kinda had the same problem myself. Nearly set the whole place on fire and everything."

"Really? I'm glad I'm not the only one. Anyway, I'm now at a loss as to what to get for Valentine's Day." His face fell a little. "I'm not very good at giving gifts, since my family never celebrated things like this."

"Hey, no worries," Joey said in a comforting manner. "I'm sure that if your partner really cares about you, than it doesn't matter what you give them. They'll love it, because they'll know it came from the heart."

"That's the most sickening thing I've ever heard," said a gruff voice. The two blondes turned to see a very disgruntled, leather-clad Bakura glaring down at them.

"Bakura!" Malik exclaimed shooting out of his chair heading towards him.

"Bakura?" Joey said at the same time as Malik, but in shock. "You're with Bakura?" Joey said stuttering. "But you're so cool, so how are you with Bakura?" Confusion was written all over Joey's face. Bakura scowled at Joey almost with the same ice Kaiba would. "Uh, no offence, Bakura," he said shaking his arms hoping he would forget the statement just said.

"Let's go, Malik," Bakura said heading out of the coffee shop.

Malik followed, slowly waving bye to Joey. "Let's do this again sometime…Wait up, Fluffikins!" Malik shouted as Bakura left without him.

Joey finally left the coffee shop remembering that he still needed to find the rest of Seto's gifts for tomorrow. _"So that was Bakura's partner. He was kinda cool. I feel like we can relate; we both have partners that come off as jerks."_ Joey went into a few more shops, looking at mugs, glasses cases, even at picture frames, but none of them seemed reasonable for Seto. He saw a chocolate store a few windows down, with a line that was a good 50 girls long. _"It would be too embarrassing to wait in that." _He sighed passing the shop and went into the men's clothing store next to it. Joey looked at some coats, but none of them seemed grandiose enough for Seto. He ended up at the ties, and got distracted by a red flashing light on one of the tables.

Joey looked down and saw duel monster themed ties. Some lit up and other made noises. They were very cheesy looking but Joey couldn't help but imagine Kaiba wearing one of those ties and started laughing in the store. The employee looked up from his magazine at the register, but looked back down realizing what the teen was looking at. Joey noticed a Blue Eyes one on the mannequin, but could only find the Dark Magician and Flaming Swordsman on the table. "'Scuse me," Joey said to the employee, "Got any more Blue Eyes ones?"

The employee turned the page in his magazine. "If it's not on the table, we don't have anymore."

"Can I have the one on the mannequin then?" Joey asked pointing to it. The employee obviously didn't want to help Joey, but reluctantly took the tie off and rang up Joey without another word. As Joey stepped out of the store, he noticed that the line in front of the candy store was completely gone. In fact, the store looked almost deserted.

Joey decided to take this chance before the next wave rolled in and entered the store. Most of the shelves were completely bought out and the store was messy and disorganized by poor customer ethic. Still, Joey searched the shelves for something Seto would, by some stretch of the imagination, enjoy.

"Excuse me, sir," the female employee said, approaching Joey. "You do realize that Valentine's Day is for the _girls_ to give chocolates."

"Yeah, I know… it's for a friend though," Joey said lamely, scratching the back of his head.

"Okay… does this friend have any particular favorites?" the employee asked.

Joey thought for several moments. What would Seto like? "How bitter does your chocolate go?"

"The highest cacao percentage we have is 82%," she told him.

"Not sure what that means, but okay."

"It means it's bitter, in laymen's terms," she said patiently. "So bitter, that not many people would eat it."

_"Sounds like something Kaiba would enjoy,"_ Joey thought decisively. "Alright, could I have some of that 82% stuff?"

"The only flavors we have left are orange and raspberry."

"Orange should be okay."

She fetched the chocolate for him and even packaged it free of charge. Joey thanked her and exited the shop. _"Alright, these should be good," _he thought, pleased with his gift selections. He just hoped Seto would find them as pleasing as he did.

* * *

It was the morning of all mornings in the month that Seto dreaded the most. If he didn't have a test he would have skipped school and gone to work so he wouldn't have to deal with the girls at school.

"Morning, Seto," Mokuba said chipper as usual. "I wonder how many chocolates you will get this year. And you better not throw them away," Mokuba added scolding, knowing his brother would do so. Seto just sipped his morning coffee, trying to not think about it. "And you better have planned something for Joey too. Just because you are not a fan of holidays doesn't mean you should deprive Joey of them." Mokuba cleaned out his cereal bowl and left for school, hoping that his big brother would listen to him at least.

* * *

As Joey got to school he already saw girls with bags of chocolates in hand, a few of them hid their chocolates in Seto's locker with confession notes and throwing away other girls chocolates in the process. Joey sighed and headed to the classroom and sat down next to his friends. "Mornin' Yug, Tristan, Tea."

"Morning, Joey." They all said.

Tea clapped her hands in excitement. "Now that Joey is here, Happy Valentine's day, guys!" She pulled out three bags from her desk. "That white bag is for Yugi, Red is for Tristan, and the pink is for Joey." She handed them their chocolates individually. "So don't forget me to buy me something on White Day." She added teasingly.

Yugi dug into his chocolates right away. "These are really good, Tea. Thank you."

Joey felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, distracting him from popping the first of his chocolates in his mouth. He opened his phone and saw he had a text from Kaiba.

"Come to my office after your shift, and don't be late."

"Who's that from, Joey? Your girlfriend?" Tristan said teasingly, looking over Joey's shoulder at the text. He caught a glimpse of it before Joey had time to hide it from view. "Oh, it's Kaiba, huh? He's got you working today too?"

"Come on, Tristan. You don't seriously think he'd let me off for Valentine's Day do ya?" Joey said with a forced laugh.

"That's rough, man. But I guess it's okay since you and your girlfriend work together, right?" Tristan said, nudging him.

Joey just laughed nervously but decided not to give a verbal response. He really wished he could tell Tristan the truth, but he wasn't sure how the other would take it. He didn't want Tristan's view of him to change, or for their friendship to be ruined. He promised himself and to Tristan that he would find the right time to tell him, just not today.

* * *

KD: So what does Seto have planned for the young Joseph? Who know? Except for us of course. Bwahaha. Part three of valentine's day coming soon! Who'd have thought this one day would last so long?


	24. Until We Fall Asleep

KD: Okay, so this is probably gonna be one of the fluffiest chapters in this story. We think. We're pretty sure but we both have different definitions of fluff, so I guess we'll see. ^_^

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Until We Fall Asleep**

_Chapter song:_

_Gimme gimme gimme- A*Teens_

"Ah, another great day," Kit exclaimed once she and Joey were finished with work. "You did great today, Joey. Peten the Dark Clown has got nothing over you." Her eyes widened and she reached into her bag. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here you go." She handed him a small package of chocolates. Thanks for making this job lots of fun."

"Right back at ya. Thanks, Kit," Joey said, happily accepting the gift. Once he got changed out of his costume, he headed to Kaiba Corp. Joey was excited, because this would be the perfect chance to give Seto his gift. He was dreading going through the arduous process of seeing Seto during office hours, but surprisingly one of the female workers was waiting for him and escorted him directly to the CEO's office.

Seto was sitting at his desk, his glasses low on his nose while he was reading over paperwork. His eyes shot up over his glasses as Joey closed the door behind him. "Hello, Wheeler," Kaiba said not getting up from his desk.

Joey was a little disappointed by that, but it was expected of Kaiba. All work and no play. Joey debated whether or not to give Kaiba his present now. He didn't know what Seto wanted, so he decided to wait it out. "Hey, Kaiba," Joey stated back with little to no enthusiasm. "So what did ya want?"

"I wanted to tell you that I'll be picking you up from your place tonight after I am finished with work." Seto then went back to his paper work, as if Joey was just supposed to agree to this statement and leave.

"Huh?" Joey was just in a state of shock at first, but then the wheels in his head started turning. Kaiba did have something planned for them to do on Valentine's Day. "No need to do that, I'll just go to your place and wait for you there. It'll be easier." Joey was not ready for Kaiba to see his apartment, let alone his father.

"Very well then, Wheeler." Seto didn't move his eyes from his paperwork. Joey sighed and left the room. Seto was too entranced with his work as usual. The mood wouldn't have been right to give him a gift then. As Joey left Kaiba Corp he called Mokuba to make sure he was there. Of course Mokuba answered, but warned Joey he was not allowed to enter the kitchen no matter what.

After the long walk to Kaiba's house Joey just sat in the living room watching TV as the hours passed by. Joey figured Mokuba was in the kitchen making something because he was locked up in there with one of the maids for a good three hours. After he came out from hiding, the two boys played videogames together well into the night. Joey looked down at his watch. It was 10:32 and still no sign nor word from Seto.

_"Should I leave or stay here? That jerk. I bet he's losing track of time at work. He said he wanted to meet me tonight, the least he could do is text me telling me he was going to be late." _Joey laid on the couch staring at the ceiling and then looking over at his gift for Seto.

Joey jolted up from the couch when he heard the front door slam from down the hallway. He realized that he fell asleep and frantically looked at his clock to make sure it wasn't morning. _"12:45? What was he doing all this time?"_

Seto walked into the living room and was a little surprised to see Joey sitting on his couch. The cocoa brown eyes which were more often than not soft and warm were hardened with undisguised annoyance bordering on rage. His shoulders were hunched over and taught, and his hands were gripping so tightly to the sofa Seto was mildly concerned the cushions would need to be replaced. He could already tell this wasn't going to be a meeting full of hugs and kisses. Then again, was it ever? Seto was feeling angry, not at Joey, but at his useless employees and partially at himself. He had been planning on getting off work early for their scheduled date. At the last minute though, one of his female technicians came in wailing about how there had been a programming error and that five of his employees who were _supposed_ to be working on it were absent. The next time he saw them, he would make sure they would have to leave the country if they ever wanted to find work again.

"Well, look who finally came home," Joey said irritably.

"I'm surprised you didn't go home," Seto stated, voicing his thoughts.

"Oh, I wanted to," Joey said getting up from the couch.

Seto could feel a tirade coming.

"Several times I thought to myself, 'just leave, he ain't coming', but I stuck around anyways. You know why?"

Seto didn't ask why because he knew he was going to hear it anyway.

"It's cuz I thought maybe you'd finally started thinking about something other than work. Honestly I was shocked all to hell when you actually told me you had something planned for Valentine's Day, but then you turn right around and pull this!"

Seto stood calmly, waiting for the tantrum to be over.

"Don't you think I have better things to do with my life than waiting up for you? I coulda at least spent the day with my friends or something. But I thought maybe…if I kept waiting…" Joey had gotten himself so worked up that tears of frustration were forming in his eyes.

Somewhere in the depths of Seto, way deep down in that emotionless pit of his soul, a sense of guilt was festering. He wanted to tell Joey that he had tried, but at the same time he didn't want to sound like he was making excuses for himself. Seto released a deep sigh before setting his briefcase down and going over the blonde teen who was viciously trying to dry his eyes.

"This is who I am," Seto told him straightforwardly, unable to summon any words of true comfort. "You knew this from the beginning. Things like this aren't going to stop happening. Work is always my first priority. Besides, I abhor this holiday with every fiber of my being, so you should be grateful I'm even making the attempt. If you want to though, we can still do something."

"Like what?" Joey asked in disbelief. He was in fact hurt that Seto so simply stated work was his first priority. However, Seto was trying, which was more from the CEO than usual. So he thought it would be best to leave that comment be…for now. "There's no restaurant in town that'll be open at this hour."

"I have a kitchen," said Seto releasing Joey and walking past him. "We'll make our own dinner."

This surprised Joey; he never took Seto for being a person who knew how to cook. Why would he when he could just have someone do it for him? Joey followed Seto into the kitchen where the Kaiba Corp. president opened the large pantry and began to search through it. "So, I guess this means you weren't joking," Joey said feeling his anger beginning to ebb away.

"I don't joke," said Seto. "Now what do you want to make for dinner?"

"Hamburgers and pizza are always good," suggested Joey.

"Pasta it is then," Seto decided grabbing a box of pasta shells.

"Why'd ya even ask for my opinion?" Joey demanded enraged before getting hit in the face with a checkered apron thrown by Seto.

"Put that on, Wheeler. You're going to help me," Seto said whilst slipping on a plain white apron of his own.

Joey grumbled a little but put on the apron. He spotted two packages on the counter, one with his name and one with Seto's. Both read: From Mokuba.

"Hey, check it out, gifts from Mokuba," Joey said opening his chocolates and popping one into his mouth. A burst of liquid caramel spread over his tongue and he almost jumped for joy.

Seto snatched the bag from him. "You're supposed to eat sweets after you eat dinner."

"Since when are you Mr. Mom?" Joey asked.

"If I am going through the trouble of making you dinner, I expect you to eat it," Seto said pulling out a cutting knife to start making the tomato sauce. Joey's puppy ears fell as he filled up a pot with water to start boiling it for the shells.

"Can I help you cut the tomatoes?" Joey questioned hoping to do more than watching water boil.

"No," Seto simply stated continuing to chop with a professional elegance. Joey sighed and continued to stare at the water that was still not boiling. Seto put a package of sweet Italian sausage in front of Joey, "You can make meatballs instead. No sharp cutlery needed."

Seto went back to his work and Joey perked up a little bit, as he rolled the sausage into tiny balls and placing them in an oiled pan on the stove top. Joey soon saw the water start to boil. _"Maybe cooking isn't so hard after all" _Joey added the shells into the boiling water, occasionally stirring. "Kaiba I finished the meatballs. Should I start cooking them?" Joey inquired as his hand reached for the heat notches.

"I'll do that, Wheeler," Seto commented as he added spices that Joey had never seen before in his tomato sauce. "You can stir that sauce while it heats up."

Joey knew that was code for I don't trust you cooking meat thoroughly, and frankly Seto was right in that thought. Joey's idea for dinner was buying frozen meals from the local convenience store and nuking them in the microwave, not actually making something in the kitchen.

Seto brought over the steel pot to the stove that was full of sauce and then switched his entire focus on the meatballs. Joey did his best to stir both the sauce and the noodles, but as soon as he stopped stirring one, the other started to bubble. As Joey was trying to transition from pasta to sauce, a little bit of the warm sauce splashed on his face from the heat, and Joey took this opportunity to try something new with Seto.

"Look Kaiba, sauce." Joey said pointing to the red splashes on his skin.

Seto just tossed a towel at him. "Pay attention to the pasta, Wheeler."

Joey looked down at the stove again and saw the white foam boiling over the pot, instinctively Joey lifted the pot off the stove and the white foam slowly began to disappear.

Dinner was finally complete and Seto went into a tall cabinet and started to pull out different glass bottles and placing them back in their proper place. Joey pulled from bread out of the oven and kept glancing over his shoulder to see what Seto was doing. Eventually, he picked a bottle and Joey soon realized that it was a wine bottle. Seto popped it open and began pouring the pearly clear beverage into two glasses, placing them on the table behind the two plates.

"This looks amazing, Kaiba!" Joey's mouth was almost watering with hunger, not having realized how starving he actually was.

Seto calmly sat down, not acknowledging Joey's words of praise. He picked up a napkin and unfolded it, then placed it on his lap. Joey took this as his cue to sit down and for the sake of politeness imitated Seto, placing his napkin across his legs.

Joey clapped his hands together. "I gratefully accept this meal."

Then he dug in without any further pretense. There wasn't much dinner conversation to be had, since Seto wasn't much of a conversationalist and Joey was too busy trying to see how much food he could stuff into his mouth at once. He went back for seconds, and even thirds. Needless to say, Seto didn't have to worry about leftovers. Joey did try the wine and thought it tasted weird, but in a not so bad way. After washing his meal down with it he released a happy sigh.

"That's gotta be one of the best meals I ever ate," he told Seto who was still working on his first plate. "If you don't mind me asking, where'd you learn? I mean, you just didn't strike me as the cooking type."

"I don't trust anyone else to prepare my meals," Seto stated simply, taking a drink from his glass. "Unless it's cooked by Roland or one of my staff. Employees I know I can trust."

Joey was a little confused by this, but decided not to press it. "Oh, ya, I got a little something for you." He rose from the table and ran off to where he left his bag. He came back with a white bag and held it out for Seto to take. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Can't you at least wait for me to finish?" Seto sighed. "Besides, it's not Valentine's day anymore, Wheeler."

"It is until we fall asleep," Joey said in denial.

Seto stared at the bag with misgiving before finally taking it from Joey. He pushed his plate away from himself and set the bag in its place. Under Joey's expectant gaze -Seto could practically see the tail wagging like crazy and ears perked up with anticipation- he opened the bag and reached inside. He first pulled out the chocolate.

"I know you don't like sweets," said Joey. "But I figured you would like this since it's really not sweet."

Seto merely nodded in acknowledgement and set it aside before reaching into the bag again. This time he pulled out the coffee. "I'm surprised, Wheeler. This is actually a somewhat decent selection."

Joey grinned, feeling happy he did something right. Then came the final gift; he watched as Seto pulled out the tie. "I saw it and thought of you. Check it out." He reached over and pushed a spot on the tie causing the eyes of the dragon to light up and emit a roaring noise.

"What are you, four?" Seto said staring at the tie in dislike.

"Does that mean you're not gonna wear it to work?" Joey asked.

"I'd sooner sell my own brother," said Seto as he repacked all of his gifts in the bag. "But it's certainly not the worst thing I received."

_"I guess that's his way of saying thank you,"_ thought Joey.

He waited until Seto was done with his meal, then helped Seto clean up. Once that was done, Seto sat down on the couch looking tired. Joey plopped down next to him. Seto's arm moved so it was resting on the top of the couch and he laid his head back for a brief moment his eyes closed. Joey took this rare chance and snuggled up to Seto a bit. He didn't know if Kaiba was too worn-out to care but he was not resisting to Joey's tiny act of affection. Seto let his hand slightly drop so it was barely touching Joey's shoulder. Joey felt a light weight on his head, only to realize that the work-a-holic CEO had passed out.

_"I should've known he would fall asleep."_ Seto's eye snapped open as if he didn't realize that he had fallen asleep for a few brief minutes. He looked down at the blond under his arm and decided to let him stay there for a few minutes longer.

Seto briefly kissed Joey's temple. "It's late. You should be getting home. After all, you do have school tomorrow."

Joey looked up at Seto. "So do you."

"No I don't. I have work tomorrow that is more important than school." Seto stood up, causing Joey to fall completely sideways on the couch. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "I'll have someone drive you back, since it's so late."

Joey sat up feeling somewhat disappointed. As corny as it sounded, he hadn't wanted the night to end. He got up from the and approached Seto from behind, his heart thumping a little in nervousness but decided to take the plunge and hug Seto from behind. "Thanks for dinner. It really was great." It had been the first time anyone had ever cooked for him since his parents got divorced.

For a few moments, Seto didn't answer, preoccupied with ordering one of his men to bring the car around front. When he closed the cell phone he turned around to face Joey. With one hand he pulled Joey against him. "If you want something, mutt, it usually helps if you just say so."

As Joey's head was pressed against Seto's warm chest, he could faintly hear the taller man's heartbeat. Much to his surprise, its pace was quickly, not regular as he would have expected. He tilted his head up to look at Seto. He blushed. He felt weird, asking Seto for anything. He couldn't even bring himself to ask money from his friends, let alone intimate favors from his boyfriend. His pride just wouldn't allow it. Stronger than his pride, though, was the memory of Seto's lips on his. He wanted to feel that again, to see if it was a good as he remembered it.

Kaiba's mouth suddenly turned into a smirk and Joey was startled as Seto began steadily backing him up towards the front door. Joey felt his shoulders touch the wooden surface and he looked at Kaiba questioningly. Before he could ask, Seto's mouth descended onto Joey's. It was brief, and Seto signaled his finish by grazing Joey's lips with his tongue.

"But… I didn't…" stuttered Joey.

"Your eyes said it all, Wheeler," Seto said before pushing open the door causing Joey to stumble out backwards. "Now go home," and he shut the door.

* * *

KD: Yay, after three chapters... well two and a half, Valentine's day is over! I hope you enjoyed this, because we won't have anymore holidays for a while. So until next time!


	25. No Straight Answer

KD: Our beta is back! Hooray! Good thing too because she's amazing and we feel she does an amazing job touching up the chapters. Like this one. So enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty-Five: No Straight Answer**

_Song for chapter:_

_Stevie Nicks: Talk To Me Lyrics_

"Kaiba is gone on another work retreat?" Joey shouted in his phone. He then winced at the pained sound that filtered through the speakers. "Sorry, Mokuba, didn't mean to yell." He voice went back to its normal tone. "When did he leave?"

"A few hours ago. I don't know how long he will be gone for though." Mokuba replied calmly.

"Thanks for telln' me, Mokuba." Joey sighed and hung up the phone. Valentine's Day had been three days ago, but Joey had not seen nor heard from the CEO since he'd been forcibly removed from the house. His butt still had a bruise from the push. "Why couldn't he tell me he was leaving for work? I thought after that dinner we had together, that we made some progress, but I guess not."

Joey laid back on his bed and grabbed a magazine off of his nightstand, flipping through it. His mind, however, drifted off to other things. "I mean, where do we stand in our relationship? We did do something for Valentine's Day. But knowing Kaiba, it was because Mokuba told him to. I mean, we never really established if well… if we are dating or not. Come on, Joey, stop thinking about this." Joey tried to focus on the guys fighting hand to hand in his magazine, but it was no use. He knew that it was a waste of time to worry about this odd relationship, but he couldn't help it. He needed to know.

"I mean is Kaiba even, well, gay? I have never seen him with anyone before. Could it be that he just happens to be attracted to me, but not guys in general? I mean, Kaiba is the first guy I have been attracted to. So does that mean I'm gay? Does it even matter if I am or not. Or if Kaiba is or not?" With a sigh, Joey put the magazine back down and knew that his mind was too preoccupied to even try again.

"That's it, when Kaiba gets back from that little trip of his, I'm asking him. Where do we stand and what are his feelings towards me. If we are gonna make this work, then I need ta know," Joey finally declared it to himself, feeling a little better for it.

After about two weeks, Seto came back from his work retreat. Joey always did wonder where Seto went on these long trips, but never bothered to ask. Even though the CEO was back, he was still too caught up in his work at Kaiba Corp, and Joey was too busy at his part time job, so they still had not seen each other. It was almost as if the fates were conspiring against Joey's plan to find out the truth about the brunette.

"Hey, Joey, when you get off work, you should come over. We can play some video games." Mokuba was with Joey and Kit in the break room. The young teen had some work to do at Kaiba Land, so he thought it would be a good chance to stop by and see Joey. "Since you have been so busy lately, I thought you needed a break."

"Sure, Mokuba," Joey ruffled the smaller boy's hair. "I get off at five. I'll see you then." As soon as he was off of work, he dashed off to the Kaiba mansion eager to get started.

The entire mansion was quiet as usual while the two teens played video games. Joey's head perked up when he heard the front door of the Kaiba mansion slam shut. He wasn't the only one; Mokuba took notice of the rather aggressive entry followed by brisk footsteps. They watched as Seto walked right past them without a word, rubbing his forehead with the hand that wasn't burdened by his briefcase.

"Looks like it was a rough day at the office," Mokuba murmured.

"I don't get it," Joey whispered to Mokuba. "How can Kaiba have a rough day? I mean, he's president, right? Doesn't that mean he can do whatever he wants?"

"It doesn't work like that, Joey," Mokuba told him. "Because my brother is so successful, other companies are constantly competing with him and trying to sabotage his work. Of course, my brother's too smart to be beaten by anyone, but still… he has days where he pushes himself too hard." Mokuba looked up at Joey. "Joey, ever since you started working, Seto seems a little happier, and he even smiles now and again. Honestly, I think you bring out the fun side of himself that he buried away after we got adopted."

Joey was taken aback by this statement. "Come on, Mokuba… I know it seems that your brother and I are getting along alright, but I think you're overestimating me a bit."

Mokuba shook his head. "No, it's true. That's why I don't want you to ever give up on Seto, no matter how distant or cold he acts. If you try hard enough, you might actually be able to bring out that better side of him."

Joey smiled and rubbed Mokuba's head. "I dunno about all that, but I promise I'll do what I can."

"If that's how you feel, then you should go to him right now," insisted Mokuba. "Whenever he comes home like this, he usually goes straight to his study and works for another hour or so before passing out."

Joey hesitated again, but the concerning image of Seto passed out on his desk made up his mind for him. "Fine, Mokuba, I'll go." Joey said, standing up from the couch and heading to the stairway, "But I really think I'm the last person he wants to talk to." Joey walked up the stairs towards Seto's study. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. "I know you're in there, Kaiba." Joey hit the door harder, but Seto still didn't not reply. Joey wiggled the door knob and realized that the door was unlocked the whole time. He opened the door and stepped into the room, seeing Seto in front of his computer and his coffee next to him. _"Does this guy have a coffee machine in every room?"_ Joey thought looking around for the coffeepot, forgetting why he originally came up there. _"Wait__, Joey, get back on track here__."_ He took a deep breath and walked over to Seto, who was obviously oblivious to his surroundings, deep in his work before him.

As Joey's hand got closer to Seto's computer he saw piercing blue eyes shoot up over the rim of the glasses. "What do you think you are doing, Wheeler?" Joey placed his hand upon the top of the computer, and Seto's eyes plainly spelled out murder. Joey didn't hesitate as he tried to push the laptop screen down so Seto would stop his work.

"We need to talk, Kaiba, and I'm sure you can live without your computer for fifteen minutes. It's not like it's directly linked to your heart." Joey said, trying to push it down with little luck. Perhaps he had spoken too soon.

Seto was resisting the closing of the lid with one hand while his other, no surprise, was still typing. "I have work I need to finish, Wheeler."

Joey's expression hardened and without warning he leaned over the laptop and kissed Seto full on the mouth. Joey hadn't actually expected this to work, but found that it astounded Seto long enough for him to snatch the laptop away and shut it. "Learn to take a break once in a while."

"Big mistake, Wheeler," Seto growled as he stood up, now looking thoroughly upset.

"Bring it on, rich boy," Joey taunted, glaring defiantly up at him. "I'll take you any day. But try looking at yourself first. Ya look like you can barely stand."

"How I take care of myself is none of your business," Seto told him scathingly.

"Ya don't take care of yourself at all," Joey retorted. "And the hell it's none of myself business. I have a right ta worry about my boyfriend!" Joey blushed as he realized what he had blurted out. After all… there had never been any true verbal establishment that the two of them were exclusively a couple.

Seto, however, didn't acknowledge Joey's boyfriend comment at all. "Is that all you came here for, Wheeler?" Kaiba asked as he got up from his desk in attempt to take back his precious laptop.

"No," Joey said, knowing what Seto was after, but not sure where to hide it. Part of him wanted to throw the damned thing out of the window, but could imagine the brunette's reaction at seeing his precious technology and year's work in tiny pieces. "I need to ask you something.

Seto looked at Joey as if to say, 'Go on.'

"Are you…" Joey stuttered not sure how to ask. He was not even sure of himself what he was.

"Am I what, Wheeler?" Seto's voice rose a bit, clearly annoyed.

"Are you near sighted or farsighted?" Joey blurted out.

After giving Joey a glare, Seto took his glasses off. "These are reading glasses, Wheeler."

"I knew it!" Joey exclaimed. "Your body is being affected by your bad habits." Joey nearly dropped Seto's laptop from his exciting discovery, but Seto swiftly caught it.

"Be more careful, you idiot," Seto muttered angrily before going back to the desk.

"Stupid Joey," Joey thought to himself as he watched Kaiba gingerly place his computer back down on the table, but much to Joey's surprise he didn't turn the laptop back on. "Just ask him. Just say it."

"Well, Wheeler, is there any other useless questions you wanted to ask me." Seto turned around facing Joey after placing his laptop.

"Kaiba are you…are you having a good day?" Joey said, once again avoiding the question without meaning to.

Seto lightly sighed as he realized that Joey was avoiding his real question. "Stop beating around the bush, Wheeler."

Joey was taken aback, "Did you ever think I just wanted to talk to you about your day?" He was slightly defensive, "I know Kaiba is not one for small talk but still, how do I ask him a question like this." Joey lightly swallowed still unsure how to word his question. So far he'd struck out twice, and Seto's patience, what little he had left, was wearing thin. Joey shook his head before uttering out, "Why me?"

Seto stared at him for a few moments. "Shouldn't I be asking that question?"

"That's not… I mean…" Joey knew his face was beginning to turn red as he felt the blood rush to his face.

"I know what you meant, Wheeler," Seto sighed, walking past Joey and sitting on the couch in the corner. He glanced up at Joey who was still standing, staring at him looking nonplused. Seto gestured to the seat beside him in silent command.

Joey quickly took the hint, not wanting to ruin his chances of having an actual conversation with Seto. He placed himself beside the brunette, wondering if he should wait for him to speak or try to say something himself.

Seto once again made the decision for him. "First off, why are you asking this now?"

Joey shifted a little in his seat. "Well… I kinda always wondered about it. I just wasn't sure how to approach you with it."

Seto relaxed his chin in his hand, propping his elbow on the arm of the couch. "Well then, are you asking why I took an interest of you of all people or are you just curious about my sexuality as a whole?"

Joey was lightly twiddling his thumbs, "Well, both actually…" He looked up at Seto, who looked like he was contemplating his answer.

"You are the first person to intrigue me in this way, so I really cannot answer it fully myself." Seto looked down at Joey, who was not satisfied with this answer. However, at the same time, it made Joey feel a bit better about himself. If Kaiba really didn't know, then it should be ok if he fully didn't understand himself.

"Fair enough." Joey said, shrugging his shoulders. He knew it was not right to press any more if neither of them really did had a straight answer. However, it was still bothering Joey that he didn't know if Seto saw him as a boyfriend or not. If Joey knew the answer to that simple question, it would at least shed some light on where they both stand in the sexuality department. "So, uh, if ya don't mind me asking, when did ya, um, take an interest?" He chanced a glance at Seto, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

"I would have to say when you first challenged me in duelist kingdom," Seto replied after a small period of silence. "I was impressed with your confidence, however misguided it was. I was also intrigued when I later heard you used the prize money to save your sister's eyesight. Not many would do that."

"Wait a minute, so if that's the case, then why did you always act like you hated me?" Joey demanded.

"Please, Wheeler, do you honestly think I wanted to let on to anyone that I was even remotely interested in you?"

"Once again, fair enough," Joey acknowledged. "So then, that thing you did to me around the time I first started working for you…."

"I won't lie, a part of me just wanted to humiliate you and put you in your place," Seto stated bluntly. "The other part… well, I've never had need to express myself in that way before, and I wasn't sure how to go about it."

"So you molested me in order to show you cared," summed up Joey. "That's messed up no matter how you look at it."

"I didn't hear you complaining," Seto reminded with a cocky smirk.

Joey turned red from anger, embarrassment, and arousal at the memory. "I told ya to get offa me."

"But you never once said 'stop'," Seto pointed out.

_'Gah! I can't win with this guy!'_ Joey thought frustrated. "So what? Ya saying if I had said 'stop', you would've?"

Seto looked at him with a very sober expression. "Yes."

Joey was taken aback by the other man's seriousness and suddenly he felt guilty for even bringing it up. "So, I gotta know, where do we stand?" Joey asked. "I mean, is this whole thing just…"

"If it were, do you think I would have let it get this far?" Seto said, before reaching up and gently stroking Joey's head. "We'll be fine, as long as you don't do anything too stupid."

"What do you mean by too stupid?" Joey asked, totally forgetting that this could be considered another doggy/master moment.

Seto didn't answer him but removed his hand from Joey's hair. "Is that all now, Wheeler?" Seto said, he eyes looking shot, as if he would fall asleep on the couch right now if he were not talking to Joey. Joey, feeling that was as far as he was getting tonight, nodded at Seto and the two continued to sit there together not moving from their spots.

Joey thought that he saw Kaiba's eyes flickering in and out of sleep and decided that he should leave. After all the busy CEO seemed to have a rough day and he needed his rest since he seemed to get so little of it. "I'll let myself out then…"Joey started getting up, "after all, my boyfriend needs sleep." He hoped to get a response from the boyfriend remark this time, but looking at Seto, it was clear that he was so tired that he truly didn't care.

After leaving the study, Joey thought he heard a pair of feet running down the stairs, "Mokuba." He thought to himself, heading down the stairs and into the living room to see Mokuba watching tv, trying to hold back a big grin.

"Hey, Joey," Mokuba said, still holding back his smile and giggles. "How did things go with Seto?"

"Fine I guess…" Joey decided he didn't want Mokuba to know he knew that he was spying on them. "But he looked like he was gonna fall asleep, so I left him." Joey shrugged it off as if it were nothing. He could tell that Mokuba was getting pouty because of how indirect he was being, but what was the point if Mokuba had heard the entire conversation. "If Kaiba was still awake he would tell you to go to bed." Joey added, "So you should get going." He tried scooting Mokuba off the couch and up the stairs as he made his leave.

"Fine," Mokuba said. "After all, you are like a brother." He scooted up the stairs, and Joey left for the night.

_"Why can't Kaiba answer my one question__? Are we or are we not?__"_ He snorted. _"__I sound like a desperate girl right now."_ Joey kept walking home, his thoughts wandering back and forth, thinking of a way he could get a direct answer.

* * *

KD: I know it doesn't seem like this chapter has a point, but trust me it actually does serve a purpose. What is that purpose you may ask? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out, won't you? ;)


	26. GAH!

**Chapter Twenty-Six: GAH!**

_Song for Chapter:_

_ Boyfriend- Big Time Rush (Don't dis BTR they are the best thing since the end of 90's boy bands)_

It was the weekend, and Joey would have loved nothing more than to be out with his friends at the arcade, or eating a burger at Burgerland, or even playing duel monsters. Was he doing any of that though? No, instead he was in Kaiba's mansion surrounded by a mountain of books, preparing for final exams. _"I know I told Kaiba I wanted to do well,"_ Joey thought as he tried desperately to read through his calculus book. _"But at this rate, my brain's gonna fry before the exams even start."_

"Wheeler, you've been slacking off again." Speak of the devil, Kaiba strolled in looking a might irritated. In his hand were several papers with physics problems, and several were marked in red. "How many times do we have to go over this before you get it right?"

"Gimme a break, would ya?" Joey exclaimed tossing his book to the floor. "I already told you, I'm no good at math and physics! Can't we just accept the fact I'm going to fail that portion and focus on something else?"

Seto's eyes narrowed as he picked the textbook up off the floor and strode over to Joey's sitting place. "I don't accept failure, Wheeler," Seto said before knocking the top of Joey's cranium with the spine of the text. "You're going to understand it even if I have to beat it through your thick skull."

The two boys glared at each other for several moments until Joey's cell phone went off. Joey stood up and walked away from Kaiba, pulling his phone out of his pocket and answering it, ignoring the extremely disapproving look Seto was giving him. "Yello?"

"Hey, Joey," came the soft soprano voice he knew to belong to his little sister.

"Serenity, how's it going?" Joey asked, brightening up immediately.

"It's going well… um, are you busy right now?"

"Busy?" He glanced over at Seto before saying, "Nope, not at all. Whaddya need?" _'Let him be angry, I need a break.'_

"Well, you see… um…"

There was a confusing pause before a new voice came onto the phone. "Joseph, is that you?"

"Mom?" Joey asked in surprise.

"Your sister's in the hospital right now."

"What!"

"She really wants you here right now, Joseph," his mom continued. "So please come for her."

Joey looked over his shoulder and saw Seto glaring at him. He knew Seto had a no phone policy when they were studying, but Joey always left in on in case of an emergency, and this was an emergency.

"I'll be there in ten, mom." Joey hung up and looked at Seto, who was not happy with his action right now. Before Seto could say something Joey quickly said, "Serenity is in the hospital and she needs me. Making sure she is safe is more important to me right now than all the integrals I'm doing!"

Joey was getting ready to leave the room, but he felt Kaiba put a hand on his shoulder. "Driving will be faster than walking Wheeler."

Joey looked shocked. He expected Seto to lecture him and say something like, 'you can see your sister later, Wheeler'. Then he remembered that Kaiba does have a strong relationship with Mokuba, and that he knows the important bond between siblings.

"Thanks," Joey said as happily as he could since he was still worried about Serenity. The two got into the car and Joey nervously shook his leg up and down the entire ride. "Can't this car go any faster?"

Seto gently placed his hand on Joey's knee hoping to stop the constant, and rather irksome, bouncing. As soon as the car pulled up in front of the hospital Joey dashed out of the car running to the receptionist desk, looking around frantically for any sight of his mom.

"May I help you with something?" The receptionist asked, seeing Joey's distraught face.

"I'm looking for my sister, Serenity. Serenity Wheeler," Joey said quickly. The time it took for the receptionist to look up where she was on the computer felt like an eternity for Joey. For all he knew, she could be dying of some newfound disease or hit by a car. Seto finally entered the hospital and saw Joey standing at the receptionist desk and headed over to him.

"It looks like your sister is on the second floor room E34." As soon as the receptionist said the room number Joey dashed off to the closest elevator. "No running please," she called out, but knew it was futile since he obviously would not pay attention to her.

Joey saw his mom, as soon as he got out of the elevator, and dashed even faster towards her. "Where is Serenity? Is she alright?" He looked around the hall frantically to see where she was.

"She is in here," his mom opened the door she was standing next to and Joey saw his sister sitting in the bed. There were no bandages that he could see, but she was hooked up to an IV.

"What's wrong?" Joey said, confused.

"Appendicitis. She will be ok, once the surgery is done," she said, looking at her daughter. Seto finally stepped into the room, with a bouquet of vastly arranged flowers (snapdragons, tulips, lilies, and larkspurs), and saw Serenity in the bed and the women who he knew to be their mother. "Who is this, Joseph?" his mom asked as Seto closed the door behind himself and placed the flowers on a close end table.

"Good Day, Madam." The CEO said very uncharacteristically and causing Joey to lift an eyebrow in confusion. "I am Seto Kaiba. I am with your son," He said directly. Joey's face went pale with horror. Sure, Joey wanted some reassurance of their relationship in the form of words, but not to his mother.

"I can see that you came with my son, but why are you here?" She said, confused to Seto's response.

"I think you are slightly confused, Madam. Joseph is my boyfriend. I came with him because he was worried about Serenity, and I wanted to be here to support him. We have been dating for several months now, and I wanted to introduce myself properly to you. I know this might not be the most appropriate of occasions, however I was unsure when I would get another chance to meet you."

Joey thought he was going crazy. "_Did I just hear all that right. Did Kaiba just say I was his boyfriend to my mom? I know I asked him awhile ago about where we stand, but saying it here, and now! To my mom."_Joey felt like his body was on fire. "Gah!" he said after Seto finished his very polite introduction. Joey noticed that his mom was silent which was making him feel worse. The blond was messing with his hair, pulling on it. _"Please tell me that this is all a dream. I'm really at Kaiba's house and I fell asleep while doing some derivatives. Wake up__, Joey. Wake up."_

Joey thought that he heard his sister almost squeal with glee at the news-well, as much as she could, with the pains she was in. "I'm so happy for you two," she said as the pain passed. Joey, hands still attached to his head, turned to his mother to see her reaction to this news.

"Well, if you are both happy then I will support you," she finally said after much contemplation. "Please be good to my son," she added to Kaiba with a small smile.

"WHAT!" Joey exclaimed in shock, which caused his mom to look over at him confused.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.

"That's it? You are just going to accept it like that? No questions? Nothing?" Joey was beginning to seriously believe that this was a dream. Not only did Kaiba tell his mom about their relationship in a hospital, his mom was perfectly accepting of it.

"Well, I want you to be happy. And if he makes you happy then I will support you. Yes, it would have been nicer if it happened during a better time, but we do rarely see each other now, so I am thankful that I was told."

Joey still refused to believe that any of this was happening. "But Mom, you're going to accept it just like that? You barely even thought about it."

Seto moved over to Joey and stepped on his foot quiet hard, but not obvious enough for Joey's mom to see, "We should be thankful that she is accepting us, Joseph."

"Seto's right. It's almost as if you expected me not to accept it." She was confused to her son's reactions. Her eyes softened and Joey could see his mom was hurt that he was rejecting her openness so.

"It's not like that, Mom…" he started, unsure of how to explain himself. "It's just… I wasn't expecting this," He said with a sigh of relief.

"Joey, thank you," Serenity said from her bed.

"Huh? For what?" Joey asked, at his sister's side immediately.

"For coming here and for bringing such great news," Serenity said with a genuine smile despite the pain "I always believed that if anyone deserved to find someone, it was you, Joey. So, I'm really happy."

Joey squeezed his sister's hand, trying not to cry in front of her. She would never realize just how much her words touched him. "Thanks, sis. Now just rest. You need to focus on getting better, alright?"

Serenity nodded and Joey spent a little longer with his sister until the nurse said it was time for them to take Serenity for testing. Joey gave his little sister another bout of reassurance before promising he would visit her again soon. During that time, Seto acquainted himself further with Joey's mother and within minutes had entirely won her over. He asked her not to mention their relationship to anyone else, for Joey's safety, which she agreed to.

After they left the hospital and got into the car, Joey immediately rounded on the male sitting next to him, i.e. his boyfriend. "What the heck was that all about? You can't even tell me something like that yet you tell my mom without a second thought- in front of my sick sister, no less. And what was up with that Mr. Nice-guy act?"

"What's the big deal?" Seto asked. "I just wanted to be polite to your family. Both of them were perfectly fine with it anyways."

"Did you ever think that my mom might NOT take it so well? She might've exploded and then it would have affected Serenity and…" Joey continued ranting and Seto just rolled his eyes with a sigh. Finally, Joey began to lose steam with his rant. "...and would never be allowed to see my sister again! Are you even listening to me?"

Once most of Joey's steam was blown off, Seto calmly stated, "It's only polite that the man inform the parents of his relationship with their child."

_'He's indirectly calling me the female of the relationship, I just know it!'_ Joey seethed.

"Now that just leaves your father…" Seto began but…

"NO!" Joey was looking at Seto with an expression that was not quite sane. "Don't you even think about it!

"Why are you so against it?" Seto asked genuinely confused why he would be so against it. Sure, Seto knew the basics of what happened to the Wheeler family, but knew very little about Joey's father in general.

"Because I am, and that should be enough," Joey stated vehemently. "Ya have to promise you won't tell my dad. Promise right now!"

Seto rolled his eyes and turned his head back to the irritated blond. "I promise not to tell your father."

He was obviously not happy about this, but Joey knew that his father would never accept this; also, he was just not ready for Seto to meet his father in general.

"This just leaves Mokuba, then," said Seto. "After all, he is my only family and you should formally tell him."

"What? Why me?" Joey said, confused. "Besides, the kid is so observant, so he probably already knows." Joey remembered the kid spying on them days ago.

"That's not the point, Wheeler. I formally introduced myself to your family, so you should do the same for mine."

Seto was an old-fashioned guy when it came to relationships, and he wanted sure to make sure to do everything properly. Joey knew this, but he still didn't see the point. Mokuba was the most observant thirteen year old he had ever met, so it would not come as much of a surprise to him, which should make telling him easier.

"Fine, I'll tell him," Joey conceded with a sigh. "But you better keep your promise about not telling my father," Joey stated wanting to be reassured one last time. Seto nodded his head in agreement as the two finally approached the estate.

"Right after we tell Mokuba, back to the books," he said before they stepped through the door of the house.

Joey groaned. He had hoped that the excitement of the hospital would mean he was out of doing homework, but when it comes to Kaiba, that's never the case.

"You guys are back," Mokuba said, skidding to the door when he heard it open. "How is Serenity?"

"She's fine for the most part. She has to get her appendix removed, though," Joey said, thinking about the pain he saw his sister in.

"Well, that should be an easy enough procedure. She'll be fine in no time," Mokuba said with a smile.

Joey knew that he should keep his end of the bargain with Seto, and tell Mokuba right now and get it out of the way, but he just really didn't see the point still. After taking a deep breath and exhaling Joey finally said something. "Mokuba, there's something I need to tell you."

Mokuba nodded and the three boys headed to the living room. After they all sat down Mokuba turned to Joey. "What is it?"

"Well…I wanted to tell you…that Kaiba and I are boyfriends. Officially," Joey said with much stuttering and flushing.

A smile danced upon Mokuba's face. "It's about time you told me. I always knew, but still…" He gave a small laugh. "It's nice to be told instead of just assuming."

Joey looked to Seto and he knew what he was thinking. "Well, I should probably get back to studying."

Joey really didn't want to study, after all most of the day was gone, and he really didn't want to waste it on books. He and Seto both got up and headed to the study where Joey plopped back down on the couch and opened up the calculus book yet again trying to understand the difference with derivatives and integrals.

Several hours passed before Seto, at last, said the liberating words, "That's enough for tonight, Wheeler."

Joey stretched his arms high and wide as he stood up from the couch. He got a great deal of studying done, even though he felt like he would never remember it all. He looked down at his watch and saw it was a quarter to ten.

"Seto, Joey?" Mokuba said, knocking on the door. "Did you guys want to watch a movie with me?"

_"A movie sounds great right now__, since my brain feels like it's broken,"_ Joey thought as he headed to the door. "Sure, would love ta. Which movie?"

"Seto?" Mokuba asked again, hoping that the three could watch a movie together like last time.

"I'll go get some coffee then," Seto said, leaving his study and heading to the kitchen.

While Seto was getting his life-blood beverage, Joey and Mokuba both decided on the Incredible Hulk. Mokuba popped in the movie and the two of them took their positions on the couch. Seto arrived with his steaming mug and settled himself between the two of them. Mokuba used a remote to dim the lights and started the film.

Joey was still feeling a little worked up by the day's events. He was starting to think he would never understand Seto, no matter how much he wished to. He supposed he should feel happy to be acknowledged by Seto as a boyfriend, but the way he did things… always taking charge and rarely letting Joey have a say. Joey liked to think that Seto wasn't _trying_ to be a total ass, but why did he always feel like he had to take charge when he rarely ever made advances? Joey just didn't think it was very fair. He wasn't about to complain to Seto, it would just go in one ear and out the other.

Joey's hands clenched on the couch's surface. He couldn't even focus on the movie. Maybe he should just call it a night and go home. Just as he was deliberating on getting up from the couch, he felt cool fingers touch his hand and almost jumped in surprise. He looked at Seto, who was giving him a look of mild annoyance and Joey was sure there was a hidden warning in there some place. The blond relaxed a little and let the larger hand take hold of his, cinching the fingers snugly.

By this time, Seto's eyes were back to the television screen, whereas Joey couldn't even spare it a glance anymore. He was content at staring peacefully at their hands resting together, as if it were completely natural.

* * *

KD: It never ceases me to melt every time i read those words, "I am with your son."

Jael: OMFG SETO SAID THE WORD BOYFRIEND! *dies* oh ya to those of you who don't me, I'm the silent co-writer Jael, I finally got to post a chapter...so thank you from me to everyone who reviews and reads our story. It makes me so happy. *wipes away a tear*

Happy Easter Everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and if you did feel free to leave a review, they are always happily accepted.


	27. Employee of the Year…Month?

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:** **Employee of the Year…Month?**

_Song for the Chapter: _

_Money, Money, Money by Abba  
_

A couple weeks passed by quickly. What with school, then work, then hellish studying with Seto, Joey's plate had never been fuller. Now they had reached the weekend before finals, and all the teachers were wishing their students luck.

"I really hope I do well," Tea stated as the group of friends left school.

"Honestly, as long as I don't flunk out, I'll be happy," Tristan stated.

"So what do you wanna do guys?" Yugi asked them. "I think since it's the weekend before exams, we should all go out and do something fun."

"Sounds good to me," said Joey.

"I'll bet," Tristan said, grabbing Joey's shoulder. "We barely ever see you outside of school anymore ever since you've become a regular bookworm."

"Well, I think it's good that Joey's knuckling down and starting to take his schoolwork seriously," Tea defended. "His grades are getting better every week."

"He must have one hell of a tutor," Tristan noted.

_"You don't know the half of it,"_ thought Joey dismally. Seto was kind enough to give Joey the weekend off though, which the blonde was very grateful for. Any more cramming and he was positive his brain would start corroding.

"I have an idea," Ryou piped up. "Why don't we go to that sushi place?"

"The all-you-can-eat one?" Joey's eyes glimmered at the dreams of stuffing himself with sushi and sashimi, his stomach getting so full that he would have to unbutton his pants to be comfortable. "Let's go!" Joey started to run off, thinking purely with his stomach.

Everyone else followed behind him with the same enthusiasm. _"Joey has been acting different again__,"_ Tristan thought as he caught up to Joey. _"He seems like his old self again, but still something__'s changed about him. I have__n't seen him this happy since we started high school…"_ His thoughts started to trail off after when he noticed Joey was talking to him.

"I bet I could eat more sushi than you," Joey challenged Tristan with a goofy grin.

"Ya right, man," Tristan shot back.

"Come on, guys," Yugi said, opening the door to the Sushi place for everyone. As they entered, the cashier was right at the entrance, and everyone could smell the food past her.

"Welcome. Have you ever been here before?" The cashier asked as the five teens approached her.

"No, we have not," Tea chimed in since the boys were all looking around and talking amongst themselves.

"Well, it's all you can eat from the conveyor belt for only $23 and if you want a platter it will cost extra," She said pointing to the sign that was next to her.

"I'll pay, guys," Joey said getting out his wallet. "After all it's been awhile since we all hung out together, so it's my treat."

"Come on, man, you don't have to do that," Tristan started. "After all you still need too…"

Joey interrupted Tristan. "It's ok man I can do it." Joey knew what Tristan was going to say. His father's debts. Ever since Joey got his first pay check, he had been slowly paying them off piece by piece. He had about one third of it paid off, but he still had a long way to go.

Everyone thanked Joey as they entered into the giant room and headed towards five stools at the conveyor belt. "Ready to start, Tristan?" Joey asked, prepared to stuff himself with as much sushi as humanly possible. They both started grabbing at everything that passed in front of them, and just stuffing it into their mouths.

"Slow down guys, or you are going to choke," Tea scolded, but it was of little effect, because they were both still too focused on beating each other. Yugi and Ryou cheered for them, as they both tried to grab what they could before Joey or Tristan took it.

The gang lost all track of time and completely threw their worries out the window, taking pleasure in each other's company. Most of the dinner entertainment came from Joey and Tristan who were trying to be creative by inventing different eating games, ordering round after round of food, trying to outdo one another. Three hours of this passed until the group left, not because they had wanted to, but because the owner was afraid if he didn't make them leave they would drive him to bankruptcy.

"Only you two could get us kicked out of an all-you-can-eat place," Tea stated as the five friend's walked down the street lamp lit side walk.

"At least we got our money's worth," Joey said, happily.

"Did we ever figure out who won?" Tristan asked.

Joey shrugged. "Beats me. I lost track at round 32."

"Oh dear," Ryou said checking his watch. "It's late, so I better be getting home. Cheerio, everyone."

They watched Ryou run off into the darkness. Tea was the next to speak. "I need to get home too."

"I'll walk you home Tea." Yugi offered.

"Guess that leaves you and me, pal," Joey said to Tristan.

Tristan smiled. "Just like always."

The two walked together in friendly silence. The atmosphere was a good one, which Joey was happy about. He knew that Tristan had been a little sore at him lately for rebuffing a lot of his offers to hang out so that he could study. Tonight was an assurance that nothing had changed between them, they were still best friends, and nothing was about to ruin that. So then why was he so afraid to tell Tristan about Seto? Couldn't he trust his best friend to be understanding about something like this? But then, he knew Tristan's animosity towards Seto. It was the same animosity Joey had once felt. If their places were switched and Joey found out Tristan was dating Seto, he would have thought Tristan had lost his mind.

"Thanks again for tonight man. It was fun," Tristan said, finally breaking the silence as the two males reached the crossroad where they part paths.

"That's what friends are for. Besides, I owed ya for all the times I had to bail," Joey added. He really wanted to tell Tristan then and there, _"Oh ya man, I'm dating Kaiba. Thought I would let you know. G'night." _But he didn't. The two boys lingered there as if both had something they wanted to admit but couldn't, and that made things worse for Joey.

After a few more moments of silence, they finally parted ways. "See ya later, man. If you are not working we should hang out." Tristan left and Joey watched him disappear into the darkness.

Joey went the opposite way and headed to his apartment. Approaching the building, he saw the windows were dark, which was a good sign for him. His father almost always fell asleep with the lights on, so the dimness of the apartment window was a good sign. He quietly opened the door to his apartment and peaked his head around the door. He was use to the strong scent of alcohol that seeped from the open door. There appeared to be no bodies in the living room of his apartment, causing his shoulder to slump back into its natural position. Even though there was no sign of his father, he still trotted through quietly just in case. Finally making it into his room he plopped on his bed, he placed his hand on his silver dog tag necklace. Staring at the ceiling wondering what he should do._ "Maybe I should tell Tristan. He deserves to know the truth. We have gone through so much together since junior high if we were able to get over that, then I think he can get through this."_ With a sigh Joey fell asleep for the night, still unsure if Tristan was ready to handle the truth.

The weekend went by faster than any of them would have liked, and before they knew it, Monday had rolled around and finals week had started. Before the beginning of school, the friends got together to cheer each other on.

"Let's do our best, guys," Tea said supportively. "Just one week and it'll be all over."

"This week is going to drag on forever," Tristan foreshadowed, rubbing his head. "Oh well, I managed to stay in school this long."

"We're all going to do great, I just know it," Yugi said with pep.

"After this week I'm gonna rot my brains out with some good ol gaming," Joey declared, giving himself something to look forward to.

They all did a group high five and when the bell rang they sat in their designated seats and waited for the teachers to come in with their tests. Before that, Joey received a message on his phone. He checked it, and what he saw made him grimace:

_If you fail, I'll make sure you regret it._

_"Thanks for the confidence, Kaiba,"_ Joey thought.

* * *

"Yeah! Freedom!" Joey cried as he ran out of the school building, his friends trying to catch up with him. At last, tests were over and they could relax.

"Joey sure seems excited," Ryou commented as he watched Joey waving his arms in freedom as they exited the main doors of the school.

"Joey was never a big fan of tests, or school in general," Tristan explained.

"So, should we celebrate by going to the arcade?" Yugi asked them.

"Sounds like something we could all use after this week," Tea agreed.

"Alright, last one there is a rotten egg!" Joey stated but stopped when he felt his phone go off. He checked it and saw it was a message from Seto. Curious, Joey opened it.

_Go to the udon shop down the street from school. I'll be there to pick you up. You have five minutes._

_'What the heck could that guy want?' _Joey wondered to himself. He debated on what to do. He wanted to hang out some more with his pals, but at the same time, he did owe it to Seto for helping him get this far.

"Sorry guys, looks like I won't be able to join ya," Joey told them putting his phone away. "Work's calling me."

"Bummer man," said Tristan. "Well, your loss I guess."

"Heh, yeah. I'll catch ya guys later, alright?" Joey stood and waved his friends goodbye as they left to go do some fun things. Whereas he, well, with Seto he never knew if he was in for a good time or not.

Joey walked down the road and turning the corner at the Udon shop. He saw the slick black limo sitting there at a stop and, getting in the car, he saw Seto sitting in a tux.

"Whacha' all dressed up for?" Joey said sitting down in the car, closing the door behind him. The tux was certainly eye-catching, a pure white suit with light blue undershirt and dark blue tie. As much as he hated to admit it, he really did think Seto looked attractive in the outfit.

"We are going to a business event," Seto simply stated. "You need to change into your suit before we get there." Seto handed Joey a black garment bag. Joey hesitantly unzipped the bag, seeing a charcoal gray suit and pants with a black undershirt and a crimson tie.

"So why exactly do I gotta go to this business event?" Joey knew not complain about wearing the suit and just started stripping and putting it on. He didn't want to get in a spat over something that he knew he would lose in the end.

"These things are boring and I don't want to go alone." Seto saw Joey messing with the tie and failing miserably at it. He reached over to Joey and started to tie the tie himself. Joey was flushed red with embarrassment that he could not tie it, but told himself he had never worn a suit before, so of course he didn't know how. Seto fixed the tie to perfection. "Can you not do anything right, Wheeler?" Seto sat back to look at Joey in the outfit to make sure he look presentable for the event. Seto leaned over once again to Joey, placing his hand in his hair. "If only there was something we could do about your hair."

"Hey, what's wrong with my hair?" Joey knew he didn't have the most cooperative hair, but it gave him character and he loved how it looked on him. Seto just ignored his question and he continued to attempt to style it with his hand, but even Seto could not tame the golden locks. The car eventually pulled up to a fancy cocktail restaurant and bar. Joey saw other well dressed business men with beautiful women around them, talking outside the place, having a smoke. "Kaiba, what kind of business meeting is this?" Joey questioned before they stepped out of the car.

"Just another humdrum gathering," Seto stated as they got out of the limo and it drove off. "It's more for appearances than anything. I look at it as an opportunity to scope out the competition."

"You really are always in business mode, ain't ya?" Joey asked rhetorically. "But am I seriously allowed ta be here?"

"We're allowed to bring guests, so long as they have a somewhat notable title."

"And mine would be?"

"I forgot to mention, you're employee of the year. Congrats," Seto stated blandly. "Let's let's go. I'd like to hurry and get this over with."

_"I know I should be happy, but he's making it really hard,"_ Joey thought as he followed the prestigious president inside.

The place was bigger and even more lavish than the last party he attended. Though that could be because people were wearing designer clothes instead of costumes. Joey didn't pay too much attention to all that though. His eyes immediately went to the food table, and he perked up immediately when he saw it. "Hey, Kaiba, can I…?"

"Not this time, Wheeler," Seto told him sternly. "At a costume party, you blend right in, but in a setting like this you're hardly inconspicuous."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joey demanded.

Before Seto could even dignify his question with a response, they, or more specifically, Seto, was approached by some important and much older-looking business executives. Joey stood by while Seto exchanged stiff pleasantries with the other company owners. Unfortunately, it's not good to leave Joey with nothing to do. After it became clear that the conversation was going to be going on for a while, Joey quietly snuck off, making a B-line for the buffet table. He loaded his plate and grabbed himself a glassful of some bubbly drink from one of the servers that he guessed was some kind of rich soda. Then he relocated to the least populated corner of the room to enjoy his find.

_"Man, these rich folks got it made,"_ Joey thought as his munched on his food. _"I know I'd like to eat like this every day." _He took a swig of the drink and was taken aback at the sweet yet invigorating punch it held. "Whoa, this fancy soda is pretty good," he thought out loud.

"It's called champagne, moron."

Joey whirled around, recognizing the voice before he even saw the face. Duke Devlin, wearing a black pinstripe suit with a dark green tie. "You again!" Joey exclaimed.

"That should be my line," Duke said, crossing his arms in front of his lithe form. "This is a formal event for people who have actually managed to become successful. Yet a second time I've found you some place where you don't belong."

Joey frowned. He was beginning to think Duke was bipolar or something with the way he treated Joey. It seemed like whenever they were with the gang, he was cool, but when it was just them, he made Seto seem like a prince by comparison. "I'm employee of the month. Got a problem with that?"

Duke moved in close to Joey, gingerly grabbing his tie lightly twirling it. "My problem is that you don't look nearly as good in this outfit as you did at the Halloween party."

Joey really didn't know how to respond to this. It appeared, once again, Duke's mood swings were in full effect. Joey was spared the need to reply.

"There you are, Wheeler,"

Duke looked over his shoulder and saw none other than Seto Kaiba approaching them. "Kaiba," Duke said in a mocking formality, letting go of Joey's tie.

"Devlin," Seto said with a bit of spite in his voice. No one, and Seto meant no one, could touch Joey in that way except for him. He didn't understand why that small tie twirl upset him, but he could see that Duke's action was not a friendly one. Kaiba softly grabbed Joey by the arm. "I told you not to leave, Wheeler."

The brief tension between the two boys didn't escape Duke's notice. He slowly started to put the pieces in his head together, but was still hesitant about it. Joey and Kaiba could be, but he had no proof. _"Besides, why would someone like Seto Kaiba be interested in a guy like him?"_ Duke thought to himself as he saw the two teenagers walk off deeper into the room.

* * *

KD: What does Duke have in mind? Well we are not telling… For a very long time. So just keep guessing for now ^_^

As always, feel free to leave a review/comment, whether it is good or bad.


	28. Mandarino Sorobetti

KD: Hey peoples! At last school is out! HOORAY FOR SUMMER! Hopefully this means more people will review. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mandarino Sorobetti**

_Chapter song:_

_Inside of You- Hoobastank_

After about two hours of hearing Seto talk to person after person about virtual reality games, theme park ideas, computer programming, and other business related topics, the two finally left the party. The night was still young, but Joey was tired from all the standing and listening. Joey leaned back in the car seat and momentarily closed his eyes.

"The night's not over yet, Wheeler," Seto said, noticing how exhausted the blond next to him looked.

"What now?" Joey asked, slight irritation in his voice.

"Since you were a good dog at the party, I'll take you out for dinner."

Joey's head immediately perked up when he heard the word dinner. Even though he ate at the party, he was still hungry. "Really?"

Joey was shocked. They had never gone on an official date in public before and he really didn't know what to expect. The car ride was not long and they pulled up to a high class Italian restaurant. As Joey stepped out of the car and headed to the door, there was a hostess there to welcome to two boys and open the door for them. Much to Joey's surprise the restaurant was silent. He looked around and noticed that he and Seto were the only people besides a few staff members that were working.

"Good evening, gentlemen," An older women said before guiding them to their table and handing them their menus. "May I offer you anything to drink? Wine? Scotch?"

Joey was dumbfounded. They were obviously not old enough to drink, but then again, nothing was ever normal with Seto.

"Two glasses of your finest red wine," Seto said without even bothering to looking at the beverage menu. The waitress quickly left to fetch the wine and Joey decided to look at the menu that was placed in front of him.

_'Gah, I can't read any of this,'_ Joey thought, looking at the menu only to see that the entire thing was written in Italian. He saw Seto pull out his glasses looking over the menu with much thought and then closing it shut and placing it down. "Um, Kaiba," Joey started. "Do they have raviolis here? I can't read the menu." Joey started to nervously laugh while waiting to hear Kaiba's response.

"This isn't the capital of Chef BoyArdee, Wheeler," Seto replied pointedly before lowering Joey's menu and pointing to a dish. "Try the Maltese ravjul."

"Okay, I'll give it a shot," said Joey, trusting Seto with this.

The dinner was enjoyable, albeit silent for the most part. Joey got to have his first taste of red wine. When he told Seto what it tasted like to him, he received a very scathing look and made not another complaint about it. The most conversation Joey managed to get from Seto was when he asked Joey how the exams went. Joey told Seto he supposed he did alright, and then wished he hadn't said anything at all right afterwards.

The two boys ordered their food, once the waitress came back. Joey attempted to say Maltese ravjul as perfectly as Seto had said, but he completely butchered it. However, the waitress easily knew what dish the young blond was talking about, with all her years working at the restaurant. Seto ordered **Zuppa di Cosse, which just looked like mussels in some sauce to Joey once the food arrived. After the waitress left, the room was once again engulfed in silence between the two boys.**

**_"Come on Joey, say something. Anything. First thing that comes to mind." _****After a few moments of pondering what to say, the husky voice of the person across the table from him finally spoke up.**

**"How were exams?" Seto took a sip of his wine glass after asking his simple question. Yet, the irritation in his voice, made it perfectly clear, he was not truly that interested in know how they went, because he could already predict the answer.**

**"I did alright. I think. I kept messing up the date on Japanese History, and the derivative in math were hard, but I did write an answer down for every question." Joey said after thinking back on the exams, he so easily wanted to forget. Once again the two teens were in silence, since all Seto did was nod his head in approval to Joey at least trying to answer every question, but gave no affirming words. _"Geez. Is it that hard for the guy to say something like 'you did you best and that's what matters.' Aw who am I kidding? If Kaiba did say something' like that I would fall over from a heart attack." The tension in the room was staring to feel think on Joey, and he knew this time he needed to instigate some form of conversation, or else they would be sitting in silence the entire night. With a sigh, Joey leaned hack in his chair._**

"Look, Kaiba, while I appreciate all this, I really do… could ya do us both a favor and lighten up?" Joey asked him. "You're not exactly helping the mood. What's got you so up in a bind?" Kaiba usually wasn't THIS temperamental unless something warranted it. Was it because he had wandered off during the party?

"I'm perfectly fine," Seto declared, very much in denial.

"Ya wanna talk about it… you being fine?" Joey asked, trying to humor him.

"Are you my personal therapist now?" Seto asked.

"Look, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you at your little party, but I'm just not into standing around listening to people talk about stuff I don't even understand," Joey told Seto. Then he added, "Besides, you didn't even give me a choice in the matter."

"You would not have gone even if I had asked," Seto predicted.

_"Well… I'll admit he's got me there," _Joey thought. "Look, can we just forget everything else and focus on… well…" He blushed. "Us?"

"What's there to 'focus' on?" Seto asked after taking a sip of his wine, his expression relaxing just a bit.

Joey realized that he didn't know what to talk about either. "I don't know," Joey grumbled. Seto was never one for small talk, Joey knew that, but he didn't realize that it would be this hard. "How was your day?" Joey finally asked, the only question he could think of besides the yearning to know what had Seto annoyed more than usual.

"Are you seriously asking me how my day was?" Seto found it hard to believe that Joey actually asked him that question. Joey nodded, slightly embarrassed by his stereotypical question, but it was better than silence right now. Seto sighed but humored Joey in turn. "My day was no different than any other day, Wheeler, school and work." Seto kept it brief, which Joey expected; his boyfriend was not really a man of many words, unless it came to insults, firing someone, or stroking his own ego.

The waitress came back and took away their cleaned plates. "Would you gentlemen like any dessert or coffee this evening?"

"I will have a cup of Ristretto and we will share a mandarino sorobetti," Seto said closing the dessert menu, and handing it back to the waitress.

"What's mandarino sorobetti?" Joey asked butchering the Italian pronunciation once again. However as soon as he asked, the women came back with Seto's coffee and the mandarino sorobetti, and Joey had an idea what it was.

"Mandarin Orange Sherbet?" Joey asked grabbing one of the spoons and taking a small bit, unsure if he would like it. Seto watched as Joey eagerly ate the sorobetti with enthusiasm. Seto took a small scoop here and there, but Joey ate the most of it.

"Enjoy it, Wheeler?" Seto said leaning in closer across the table after Joey had finished the last bite. Joey nodded placed the spoon into the bowl. Seto then scooted his chair next to Joey's at the table. "I thought you would." Seto noticed that Joey still had a little of the sorobetti on his face, "No one is around and I paid the staff enough money to leave us alone the entire evening…" Seto thought as he progressively leaned his face in closer to Joey's. Seto's face was centimeters away from Joey's now, and he saw the glistening shine from the sorobetti even more clearly on the side of Joey's face. Seto licked the sorobetti, slowly, and almost seductively off of Joey. Seto saw Joey's face turning a light pink at this small act.

Seto's face was still close to Joey's, so Joey took this opportunity to take the mood one step further, leaning in to press Seto's lips lightly with his own. Joey wanted to take full advantage of this opportune moment that the two would be able to spend together. Joey went to kiss Seto again, but was stopped this time. Seto softly licked Joey's lips, once again tasting the mandarino, the one flavor they could always agree on, before granting Joey permission to one final kiss. It was sweet and short.

Joey reluctantly but decisively separated his lips from Seto's and suddenly stood up from his chair. The young president of Kaiba Corp. was perplexed by this and even more so when Joey grabbed hold of his hand and quite literally pulled him up out of hid chair and began dragging him to some destination unknown. Seto had no clue what was going through the blonde's head, but his cocoa brown eyes were intense, lit up with some inner fire. It didn't take long for Seto to surmise where they were headed as the men's restroom came into view and grew steadily nearer.

Seto had half a mind to stop Joey right then and there, but he was curious to see what his pup had planned. Joey threw open the swinging door with such force it nearly banged against the wall as he dragged Seto in with him. Of course there was no one there, and the employees had their own restroom. The bathroom was very clean and shiny, and smell strongly of popouri. The walls, sinks, mirrors, stalls, and urinals were spotless and unmarred. Neither really cared about that though, especially not Joey.

The moment the door shut behind them, he pushed Seto up against the sink counter, wrapping his arms around the taller man's neck, and drew him down for an intense kiss. Seto was slightly thrown by the blonde's boldness; usually he was too shy and embarrassed to initiate anything so intimate. He could tell Joey was trying to use Seto's surprise to take charge just by the way Joey's tongue slipped straight past his partner's lips and pressed against his, as if trying to steal the flavor of the desert they shared. He was establishing his dominance. Well, that just wouldn't do.

If Seto wanted, he could easily stop this and not think twice on it, it was early on enough. Since they were here, though, he might as well have some fun with his puppy. He wrapped his hands around Joey's waist, now fully engaged in the battle stirring between their mouths. Then in one fluid motion, he lifted Joey up, turned around, and placed the younger teen on the sink counter, turning the tables on him.

Joey was to lost in the taste of Seto to even care that the position of dominance was falling from his fingers. Seto broke the kiss to look into the chocolate eyes of his blond, his cool hands stroking flushed cheeks. Kaiba leaned back in, gently kissing Joey's cheek and moving down to the side of the neck. Seto thought he heard a soft moan of 'please' as he kissed a particular spot on the blond's neck. Intrigued, Seto continued to play with the spot on the side of his neck closest to the shoulder.

Joey tried to hold back the pleasure he was receiving, but the touch of Seto's lips and tongue were too much for his self-control to handle. It also didn't help that he was slightly intoxicated from the drinking he had done. He was not drunk, but light enough in the head to feel more adventuress that usual when it came to Kaiba. Joey could feel himself growing warmer in the presence of Seto. They were making out in the bathroom of a restaurant, even though it was close off exclusively for them, Joey felt like this was Seto stepping out of his comfort zone. Joey took off his jacket hoping that it would relieve the uncontrollable warmth he was feeling, but it didn't help much. He did have a six foot CEO towering over him, pleasing his body oh-so-easily with the simple kisses and light touches of his tongue and hands, and the alcohol was a definite factor in the warmth. However, to Joey the biggest reason he felt so warm was because of how turned on he was. The well-fit designer slacks were feeling tight to Joey, and he wanted them off. That was impossible for him to do, though, still sitting on the sink top, and he found himself too distracted to move. Joey really didn't know how it happened, but his tie was off and Seto had begun unbuttoning the blond's shirt. Seto's tongue felt cool against Joey's body that was feeling even warmer with every touch.

Joey, deciding to be bold, moved his hands close to Seto's pants. He was not sure if it was because the alcohol, but he wanted Seto that very moment. As soon as Joey attempted to unlatch Seto's belt, he heard his lover's voice low in his ears, "No, not here." This upset Joey, he was hard and needed to release it, and he wanted Seto to be the one to do it. Joey tried to continue, but Seto kissed him one last time as an attempt for a distraction. The last place Seto wanted to do it in was a bathroom, with his boyfriend obviously being persuaded by the wine more than his own thoughts. After the kiss was broken, Seto picked up Joey's clothing and handed it to him. He noticed that Joey was a bit annoyed by this, but he reluctantly put his shirt and jacket back on, and Seto placed the tie back on him. Joey leaned in for one last kiss from his boyfriend, but it was not returned.

"Don't get me wrong," Seto told him when once more the puppy ears and tail were drooping in dejection. "I'm not trying to lead you on. I want to wait for the appropriate time. Can you do that?"

Joey wasn't sure what Seto meant by 'appropriate time', but he didn't want to let his own sexual frustrations ruin the night for the both of them, so he simply nodded in agreement. They went back to their table and finished their drinks. After Seto paid for the meal, leaving a handsome tip, they left the restaurant. Seto, feeling the blonde had enough excitement for one night, had the car stop a couple blocks away from Joey's apartment.

"I'm going to be busy for the next week, possibly longer," Seto declared.

Joey blinked at him in confusion, wondering why he was mentioning this.

Seto continued, "If I don't answer your calls or texts, it just means I don't have the time."

Then it dawned on Joey as he remembered the two week period where he hadn't heard word from Seto. Was that why Seto had taken him out tonight, because it was the last time they would see each other for a while?

"Thanks for letting me know," Joey said, feeling truly grateful for the heads up. It was nice to hear it from Seto for once instead of Mokuba.

"Also, if you managed to do well on the exams, I'll be sure to give you a special treat," Seto said.

"What... like a gift?" Joey asked.

Seto smirked at him. "You'll just have to wait and see, pup." Joey growled to show his displeasure at the dog reference and Seto just chuckled before ruffling his hair. "Get to bed, Wheeler. You earned a good rest."

Joey was starting to feel tired, so he told Seto goodnight and got out of the car before walking the rest of the way to his house. His dad, surprisingly enough was still awake. When Joey came in he stared at his son with bloodshot eyes. Joey couldn't even remember what those eyes looked like when they were sober. Then again, he spent a lot of his time avoiding his dad altogether, having given up on forming any kind of fatherly-son bond.

"Yer home late again," his dad spoke in a slurring voice. "Yer always coming home late. Don't even know why ya bother coming home at all." He paused to release a gurgling hiccup.

Joey just stared at his father with a mixture of disgust and guilt. It seemed every time he saw his dad now he just wanted to scream and confront him with all the stupid, useless things he'd done and how pathetic he had become. However, Joey knew it would be just another fruitless effort. How many times had he begged his dad to stop gambling and drinking? How many nights alone did Joey spend making his own microwave dinners? How many jobs did he have to go through just so that he and his dad could continue living in their house? Nothing he said or did would make any difference.

Still, something made him try anyway. "Dad… can't we let bygones be bygones?" Joey asked his dad. "Just stop drinking and gambling, then maybe you and mom could get back together. We could be a family again." How many times had he used this plea with his dad?

"Why ya lookin at me like that?" his dad asked, deaf to his son's plea. He picked up one of the empty bottles sitting in his lap. "Don't you look down at me, boy!" he heaved the bottle.

He had surprising accuracy for a drunk man, but there wasn't any devastating force behind it, allowing Joey it easily catching it. "I'm going to bed." Joey told his dad, tossing the bottle into the trash. "Not that you care," he added in thought as tears stung his eyes. He didn't ever want Seto meeting his dad, because if he did, he didn't think he could live with the shame.

* * *

KD: Poor Joey. :( Will he ever be able to salvage a relationship with his dad? Only time will tell. So stay tuned!


	29. The Country Cottage

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Country Cottage**

_Song for the Chapter:_

_FMLYHM - Seether_

"Hey, guys, ready to see how we scored on the final exams?" Tea asked the group.

They all nodded and followed Tea down the hallway. There was already a small cluster of people forming around the board seeing where they ranked. Pushing their way through the group of friends finally made it to the front of the board.

They found their class chart and began search for their names.

"Let's see," Tea said searching until she found her name. "Oh! I ranked seventh!"

"Good job, Tea, you ranked better than me," commented Yugi.

"Only by one spot," Tea told him, but still sounding pleased with herself.

"Looks like I didn't do so hot," Tristan said sounding a little disappointed. His eyes began to drift away from the board. "I've never been good with stuff like this."

"Twenty-nine's not… so bad," Tea said.

"Bakura ranked five," Yugi commented sounding impressed.

"Joey, I don't see your name anywhere on here," Tristan said searching the lower numbers.

"Cause I'm a genius now." Joey said pointing at his head with vigor. "Number eleven!" He punched the air jumping up and down with excitement.

"Geez, I don't think I've seen Joey this excited since the arcade was hosting all you can eat pizza night," Tristan commented.

Joey pointed to his name and all of them gave surprised exclamations. Tea had to look at the board once again to make sure in fact that it was Joey's name they were reading in that spot. While everyone else's eyes were intently staring to see the reality of what was on the board themselves.

"Wow, Joey, that's amazing," Yugi stated turning around to give his friend a warm smile.

"Yeah, man, I don't think I've ever seen you do so well," Tristan whistled.

"Hehe, just goes to show, inside this noggin was a sleepin' lion just ready ta bust out," Joey said knocking on his head before taking a few more jabs at the air. Seto was standing in the back, not surprised by the spectacle Joey was making one bit.

"You maybe number eleven Wheeler, but I am still number one," Seto said in a snide remark, bumping him out of the way with his shoulder to get close to the score board. "I doubt you will ever be that high," He added in a challenging manner.

_"Figures. The first time I see him in weeks and I get an insult He could have at least sent me a text or something saying he was back." _Joey got up close to the CEO's face and looked him in the eyes before finally speaking his mind.

"We'll see bout that Kaiba!" Joey said shouting, unnecessarily since their faces were still so close together.

"Uh Joey," Tea started with a pause, "let's aim at something more reasonable next, like beating me or Yugi next," she responded trying to be reasonable.

"Nah, I will beat Kaiba," Joey said with an eager thumbs up.

"You have a better chance of beating Mokuba in a duel than defeating me," Kaiba said nonchalantly while leaving the hallway before Joey could fight back.

School was finally over and today was one of Joey's few days off of work. His friends invited him to go to the game shop with for after finals celebration, but Joey declined. While walking home Joey noticed Seto's limo pull up next to him.

Seto lowered the window down. "Get in the car, Wheeler," he said without looking at him.

Joey was hesitant to get in, in the past when Seto appeared like this it was always to take Joey somewhere he really didn't want to be. Reluctantly he got in after much mental debate.

"You seriously think you could beat me," Seto said staring straight into Joey's eyes. "Because I still stand by what I told you in the hallway. You have no chance of beating me."

"Is this really the only reason you came to get me. Because if so, I'm getting out right now," Joey threatened and tried to open the door but found it locked.

"You really are slow," Seto remarked as the car began driving off. "If it wasn't for me you would have never even ranked 30 in your class."

"Don't you think I know that?" Joey said begrudgingly. "I already know that I'm no good when it comes to book smarts." He had spent most of his life on the streets, not in a classroom or library with books. While Joey had been happy to have scored so high, it upset him that he never would have done it had it not been for Seto's help. What upset him even more is that despite all his efforts and his great results, Seto still didn't seemed to be impressed at all.

"You should have been able to score higher than Yugi, but I guess that was too much to ask for from you," Seto added. Joey formed a fist, but held back the desire to hit Seto.

"Where are we going anyways?" Joey said realizing that they were not heading to Kaiba Corp or the mansion. Seto didn't say anything to Joey. The brunette was staring at the window, and a few wrinkles were forming on his forehead, as he truly became lost in his own thought. _"What is he thinking about so hard? It almost looks like he is nervous about something."_ Joey saw the subtle way Seto was tapping his index finger again his crossed arms. _"Maybe if I say something stupid it will snap him out of it. He loves ta do that."_ So Joey decided to list off a bunch of foods, it also didn't help that he was slowly getting hungry as the car ride progressed. The car finally came to a stop, "Pecan pie," Joey continued running out of foods to say.

"What are you mumbling about?" Seto asked rolling his eyes, while stepping out of the car. Joey followed and was immediately met with the smell of the ocean. He looked around and saw a simple dirt road leading up to a small cottage that was on the edge of a cliff. Joey was amazed by the view.

"What are we doing here?" he asked in awe. Seto didn't reply, but unlocked the door to the cottage and shot a glance at Joey to follow.

Joey made a face but followed. _"Gah, I hate it when he gets like this. I never know what he's thinking."_ He stepped into the cottage and shut the door behind him before glancing around. It was definitely nice and well furnished, but still held some simplicity. "Hey, Kaiba, do ya got anything ta eat? I'm starving."

"If you want food you'll have to make it yourself," Kaiba said going into the kitchen and began to brew some coffee for himself.

_"Figures,"_ Joey thought before rummaging around in the cub boards and the fridge. He decided just to make himself a sandwich. When he was done, the sandwich stacked up a foot high. "Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger mouth."

Seto poured himself the coffee and noticed that sandwich Joey made. Seto was too baffled by the stupidity of Joey to think up of an insult for him. He sat down across the table from Joey watching him try to fit the sandwich in his mouth. Seto sipped his coffee, and much to his amazement, Joey finished the entire sandwich. Joey yawned after eating the sandwich, stretching his arm high and wide.

"Tired, mutt?" Seto asked in between sips.

Joey nodded his head, and headed to a room that he thought looked like a bed room. He dropped his body on the bed and fell asleep.

Seto finished up his coffee, placing his cup in the sink, rinsing it out and went to go check on Joey in the bed room. "Kaiba, try this county fried steak." He said while turning over.

Seto sat on the side of the bed and lightly stroked Joey's hair. "Such a predictable little pup you are," he murmured lying beside Joey waiting for him to wake up.

* * *

When Joey opened his eyes he realized he must've been out for a couple hours at least. The afternoon light from the window had dimmed into a deep crimson glow, signs that the day was heading fast for twilight. He heard the sound of running water and looked over towards a door that had a sliver of light underneath implying someone was inside. He guessed Seto was taking a shower. He blushed when he suddenly got imagery and quickly shook his head to clear it out.

The water shut off and after a few moments Seto walked out of the bathroom in a silk bathrobe looking as regal as ever, even with his chestnut brown hair slightly flattened by being wet. "Have a nice nap, Wheeler?" he asked sounding a tad annoyed. "You were asleep long enough."

"Eh… sorry about that," Joey said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He clenched his hands, bracing himself before speaking what had been on his mind ever since their encounter at school. "Look, Kaiba. I really did try my hardest on that test. But let's face it; I'm just not a brain. And I know I'll probably never get to the top of the class, but still… I mean that's the highest I've ever scored on anything. So…thanks."

"I always expect the best in what I have," Seto said shaking his hair with his hand to get the excess water out. "And contrary to popular belief, I do reward those who do their best," he added casually walking over to Joey.

"Whatch ya mean 'reward'?" Joey asked dumbfounded, laying his head back down on the pillow. Seto got on the bed hovered on top of Joey. "Kaiba what are you doing?" Joey said his eyes shifting back an fourth unsure if what he was thinking was the same thing CEO had in mind.

Seto leaned his face in close to Joey's, with the back of his right hand, he slowly stroked the side of Joey's face causing him to shiver. Knowing he would have no resistance, Seto closed the gap, his lips harshly overpowering Joey's. The blonde didn't know what to do; his body was paralyzed from this act.

Without realizing it, Joey felt a warmth in his mouth, a soft tantalizing feeling that was exploring his every crevice. Joey worked up some courage and returned the favor. The harsh movement of Seto's tongue was being equally matched with Joey's.

While this was going on, Seto's left hand moved down to Joey's shirt, slithering underneath the fabric and wandering up to gently fondle Joey's nipples.

With his mouth, he lifted up Joey's shirt and started to softly lick the other nipple watching it go hard with pleasure. Joey moaned as Seto started to lightly nip at it. The blond's entire body was in eternal bliss with the simple pleasure Seto was bestowing upon him.

With Seto being distracted, Joey tugged off the silky robe, seeing Seto fully unclothed for the first time. Joey was tired of always receiving the pleasure for once he wanted to give Seto the pleasure. He noticed that Seto was still distracted with his nipples, so he went in for his move. Joey's left hand slowly started to stroke Seto, nice and slow. Joey was surprised how warm and thick it was, which made him even more excited. He began to rub with more vigor and almost thought he heard a stifled moan of pleasure come from Kaiba.

"What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" he said with his icy eyes.

"Well, you're always giving me something; I thought I would give it for once," Joey said rubbing faster, hoping to see some kind of reaction in Seto's eyes.

Seto held in another moan by gritting his teeth. "Didn't I say _I_ reward those who do their best," Seto added extra emphasis in 'I'. Seto grabbed Joey's wrist, and removed it from himself. He could tell that Joey was annoyed by that, but he wanted to be the one giving all the pleasure.

Joey leaned up a bit in resistance, but all it did was allow Seto to get his shirt off all the way. Seto straddled Joey below the waist and undid his belt. "Since I'm not clothed, it's only fair we take off yours," Seto said as he began to unzip the pants.

Joey allowed his pants and boxers to be taken off, hoping that if would soften Seto up a bit to allow him to be on the giving side for once. Seto slowly started to stroke Joey, knowing that he didn't want the pressure building up too quickly. Joey's moaning made Seto want to go faster, but he held himself back. Joey sat up, gently knocking Seto back, but this gave Seto an idea. He had Joey position himself on the edge of the bed, Seto got off the bed, and crouched at the edge, lightly licking the tip of Joey's warmth, while massaging the balls. Joey's body felt like it was being teased, but before he knew it, his entire warmth was in Seto's mouth. Joey gave a half strangled cry as Seto's tongue was encircling the warmth from the inside; carefully making sure none of his teeth hurt him.

Seto stopped immediately. "Get on your stomach, Wheeler. This will hurt," Seto commanded. Joey didn't know what Seto was planning, but he obeyed thinking that it couldn't hurt that badly. Seto was now at the end of the bed, facing Joey's rear. He rubbed it with his fingertips, but then slapped it hard, leaving a light red mark. Joey cringed in pain from the slap. He couldn't see what Seto was doing, but noticed that Seto was taking his time doing whatever he was doing. Seto was licking his right index finger, and rubbing it around Joey's crevices. He did this a few times, and then stuck his finger deep in. Joey gasped in pain, cringing even harder. Seto slowly and carefully moved his finger around, to where it was not hurting as much anymore. Seto pulled his finger slowly out, licking it ever so slowly, and sticking it back in again. Joey embraced the pain this time realizing the pleasure his body was receiving from it. Seto repeated this several times, to where Joey was no longer tense with pain.

Seto then added two fingers, relaxing Joey's muscles as much as he could. Joey was panting out of breath, when Seto pulled out again. Seto noted this and decided to let Joey take a little break. Seto lay next to Joey, watching his body stiffly move to his side. Joey weakly smiled at Seto, and Seto lightly nodded in agreement, allowing Joey a short time of pleasure.

Joey was pleased to, for once, have the reigns of control. But at the same time, he was partially at a loss for what to do. He knew next to nothing about Seto's turn-ons; the other man never really gave him much chance to find them out. He supposed he'd have to start small and work his way up from there. Joey sat up so that he was facing Kaiba before leaning in and settling his lips on Seto's shoulder. He felt the older man stiffen but took the fact that he wasn't being pushed away as signs to continue. Joey started out with some light licks and nibbles while at the same time taking in the scent of Seto's recently showered skin. He work his way towards the neck area and even went so far as to lightly stroke Seto's adam's apple with his tongue. He heard Seto release a breathy growl that was not from animosity, and Joey felt a small glimmer of accomplishment.

Deciding to give his hands something to do, he had them map out Seto's body. Starting from the chest and working their way down, he slowly and deliberately ran his fingers over every surface area he could reach. Wherever his fingers touch found only lean muscle, not an inch of fat to be had. Whenever he found a spot that Seto seemed sensitive to, he would linger there a little longer than usual. He did his best to commit them to memory. He especially got a nice reaction when his hands began to rub one of Seto's feet and Seto's eyes fluttered close as he released a sigh.

He even found Seto's tickle spot behind the knee.

"Heh, looks like the great Seto Kaiba has a weakness after all," Joey said with a smirk.

Seto's eyes opened and their expression was withering. "Don't push me, Wheeler."

Joey laughed, then just to be coy, he leaned up and licked Seto's lips in a playful manner.

Seto's grin was lighthearted, as he grabbed Joey's hand and led him to the desk that was in the corner of the room. Seto pushed Joey's body on the desk, so his top half was leaning on top of it. Seto wrapped his arms around Joey and leaned close to his body. Seto licked Joey's ear. "If you though what I did earlier was painful, then you better brace yourself."

Seto licked his finger and rubbed Joey's crevices so they were lubricated, and he stuck his warmth against Joey's entrance. "Are you ready?"

"Just do it already," Joey said, just wanting the anticipation to be over with.

Seto took hold of Joey's hips and began working his way in. Joey let out a half restrained cry of pain, his hands absently searching for anything to grab in order to take his mind off of the agonizing sensation of his tight space being suddenly filled.

Seto kept going until he was buried deep into Joey, and then against all personal desire, he paused, waiting for the man beneath him to adjust.

Joey was almost crying from the pressure that was in him. He couldn't remember anything ever feeling so painful, yet still lined with pleasure. Rather than wait for the pain to subside, he signaled for Seto to go.

Not needing to be told twice, Seto started moving back in forth in him, going slow at first, but the looser Joey got, the harder he would go in. Joey was moaning and yelling in pleasure filled pain. Seto leaned in and kissed Joey on the neck, while wrapping his hand around Joey's warmth, moving both his body and hand in a single rhythm. Joey was breathing harder and harder, panting from the ecstasy that his body was receiving.

The pressures inside both Joey and Seto were building up, until they both released nearly in sync. Joey was first, coming so hard that it brought tears to his eyes as he gave a mangled cry of fulfillment. Seto quickly followed when the tension of the blonde's body gripped him so tightly his vision turned fuzzy. For a moment both stood there, panting and sweaty. Then Seto pulled out, and white juices were still dripping from Joey in both the front and back. Joey's legs started to collapse from all the pleasure he had just received.

"Now you really do belong to me," Seto whispered. He wiped off Joey's stickiness from his hand, before helping him to the bed. Seto smiled at Joey. "I hope that was as good for you as it was for me."

Joey gave a breathy laugh. "That's gotta be the nicest thing you've ever said. Who the hell did I just have sex with?"

Seto just smirked before reaching down and pulling the bed sheets over Joey's head. "Bedtime, mutt."

Joey reached up and tore the covers off his head but before he could make a snappy comeback, Seto was already relaxing for sleep. So he decided just to leave it for the night. Placing himself under the covers he slid his body in next to Seto, who was lying facing away from him, and wrapped his arms around his waist while nuzzling his face between his shoulder blade and neck area. He half expected Kaiba to say something derisive involving Joey being a puppy, but instead Seto remained silent and unmoving. He must have been way more tired than he had put off, Joey thought and he smiled a little, closing his eyes, and allowed himself to drift asleep with Seto's scent as his oxygen.

* * *

KD: Well there's your smut. Have a happy June! Cause after that do you people really need an author note?


	30. Mr CareandShare

**Chapter Thirty: Mr. Care-and-Share**

_Chapter Song: True Colors- Phil Collins_

It had been at least a month since Seto and Joey had went on their little day trip, to his cottage and it seemed like that was the last time Joey would get any type of physical contact from the CEO. Seto was constantly busy with work, and so was Joey. He even had the blond pull double shifts on the weekends. However, after that month of constant work, Joey finally had a day off, and of course Seto already claimed all rights over Joey for that day before he even had a chance to ask his friends if they wanted to hang out. Joey was a bit angered by this, however, knowing Kaiba, he would not have done it, unless it was something important.

Joey's head was glued to the window of the car, looking intently at the outside surroundings. "Where are we going again, Kaiba?" Joey said finally removing his head from the window and looking at Seto who was sitting next to him.

Seto didn't answer his question at first; he really didn't want to have to explain to Joey just yet. The car finally came to a stop in front of a giant building that almost resembled a school. There was an elderly man and women waiting by the gate. The women seemed very excited with a big grin on her face, while the man looked like he was nervous with sweat; using a hankie to dab at his head. Seto stepped out of the car first and the women enthusiastically came up to Seto and pulled him into a hug. Joey looked at this image in astonishment. He and Seto never hugged before but Seto seemed almost at ease with the strange women.

"It's so good to have you here Seto." The women said cheerfully. "No Mokuba again?" She said looking around for the dark haired boy.

"He still is having a hard time coming to terms with this place," Seto calmly replied.

The women looked over Seto's shouldered and noticed Joey standing there looking at his surrounding's absent mindedly. "Who is this with you, Seto?" The women stepped around Seto and walked over to Joey. "I'm Elaine, my husband and I run the orphanage here." She nodded over to her husband and held out her hand to shake Joey's.

"I'm Joey. Joey Wheeler," He said shaking her hand in return. _"Orphanage…no way this cant be…I know Kaiba was adopted, and has a soft spot for orphans But could this be the same orphanage they were at as kids?." _Joey eyed the surrounding area , but his eyes soon shifted back to the woman holding his hand.

The elderly woman was pink with delight. "Seto has never brought someone with him before. You two must be very good friends then." Joey was still trying to get over the shock that they were at an orphanage, but the mention that Kaiba never bringing someone with him before was an even bigger shock. "Well let's go inside shall we. The kids are excited to see you Seto. They always look forward to your visits." Joey followed closely behind Seto as they followed the elderly women into one of the many rooms. There was at least 10 other kids in the room aging from 5 to about 10 years old.

"Seto!" One of the boy said running up to him. "You still owe me a chess game." He crossed his arms with a fake anger.

Seto knelt down to look at the young boy. Joey noticed his eyes completely changed. They were similar to when he was around Mokuba, all the ice was melted away. "You go set up the board, I'll be over in a minute." The boy eagerly ran off to one of the cabinets trying to find the chess set.

"I thought you said you were going to bring your new puppy," Another boy said, much younger than the other boy. Seto softly laughed at this and Joey was a bit confused at first why.

_"Puppy…wait…Kaiba you told those little kids that I'm your dog!"_ Joey was thinking his face red with anger.

"But you brought a blond guy instead." The little kid walked up to Joey. "Are you the puppy? I don't see a tail." The little kid circled Joey with a sheer curiosity. Joey looked around for Seto, but already saw him sitting at the table playing chess with the boy from earlier. Joey looked down at the little kid he didn't look too bad, about five. How bad could a five year old be?

"This is Seto's friend Joey," The women said to the little boy. "He came to play with you today too."

The little boy put his hand to his chin as if he was thinking, "I thought Seto said the dog's name was Joey." Joey's looked at the little kid, as if he were a miniature Kaiba taunting him easily. "Well, doggie, I wanna ride," The little boy said impatiently tapping his foot.

Joey swallowed his pride and got on his knees, letting the little boy ride on his back. _"I'll get that jerk later."_ Joey thought sending glares in Seto's direction. _"And I hope he loses against that little kid too."_ The rest of the day was not so bad. Seto played a few more chess games with other kids and Joey played tag with a few outside. The kids liked jumping on Joey and pilling on top of him like he was a monster. Joey played along pretending to be a monster running after the kids, and they squealed with glee.

Joey noticed Seto talking with the women again. "Here is your monthly check." Seto pulled a check out of his check book and handed it over to the women.

"Really, Seto, we don't need this." She tried handing it back to him. "We still have yet to use up the one you gave us last month."

"Take it," Seto said refusing to take it back. "The kids need the money." The women nodded at Seto and took the check knowing no matter what she said, Seto would refuse to take it back. "Are you still planning to bring the kids to Kaiba Land in two weeks?"

"Yes, the kids are really looking forward to it. You do so much for them, Seto. They look up to you." The two were watching Joey play with the kids. "And I think they like Joey too. He's a good boy. I'm glad that you finally have a friend." Seto just nodded at her. "And Seto, please do try to bring Mokuba. I know he still thinks poorly of this place, but I would like to see him again."

"I'll try as always. I will see you in two weeks then." The women hugged Seto one last time before he headed over to Joey. "Come on, Wheeler, time to go." Joey looked up at Seto with two kids latched to his legs making it hard for him to move. Eventually the kids got off of Joey and they all said their good-byes to the two teens.

The two got into the car and it was quiet at first, Joey wanted to ask Seto about the orphanage and why they went there, but didn't want to press. "Kaiba…" Joey started, but was interrupted.

"Mokuba and I lived there many years ago." Seto started. "When we were little our parents passed away. Our other relatives took everything away from us that our parents left. They dropped us off at the orphanage. It was there that I decided to take hold of my own future. I looked after Mokuba like a parent while I was there, doing what I could for him. Many people wanted to adopt me, but when I asked if they would adopt Mokuba too they would always say no. So I told them I did not want to get adopted unless Mokuba could come with me. It was at that very place, Gozaburo Kaiba came to donating money to boost his image. I knew he was my ticket out for both me and Mokuba. I challenged him to a game of chess, If I won he would adopt both of us. He accepted my challenge and of course I won." Joey listened intently to Seto, he had never seen him open up so much like he was right now. "Once a month I come back to play with the kids and donate money to them. I know life is hard as an orphan, and I want them to be able to have every opportunity possible." Joey just nodded and listened. He really didn't know what to say to Seto at this point. He was still a little upset by being called a dog by a little kid, but he didn't want to ruin the moment with it. "What Wheeler? Got nothing to say?" He said noticing Joey's face in a state of contemplation.

"I just don't understand why you are telling me all of this," was all Joey could think of saying to him.

"So you were lying when you said you wanted to know more about me?" Seto asked in reminder.

"Of course not," Joey said quickly. "It's just… no offense but you're not exactly Mr. Care and Share."

"If we're going to be together, Wheeler, then it's only natural that we know more about each other," Seto replied matter-of-factly.

_'That's Kaiba talk for, I just gave you something so I expect something in return,'_ Joey thought. _'But he pretty much knows about my past, at least where my family is concerned. I'd rather not have him know about the rest of the story though.'_ Out loud he said, "Thanks for trusting me."

"If you tell anyone, I'll punish you, very thoroughly," Seto warned.

Joey didn't take that threat lightly, but he had no intentions of blabbing Seto's secret…. But, a little leeway wouldn't hurt after that doggie ordeal. "No worries there, but do I get anything in exchange for my silence?"

"Really, Wheeler? You think you can blackmail me?" Seto leaned in close to Joey's face. "If so you really have reached a new level of stupidity."

Joey clenched his teeth. "Well at least if I wanted to I would have something on you. Or better yet…" Without warning, Joey moved across the seat over to Seto's side before grabbing the CEO by the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him around with such force that it threw him onto his back allowing Joey to pin him down. He grinned down at the surprised rich kid. "Better yet, I just might have something _over_ you."

Seto's momentary bafflement vanished as his eyes narrowed. With surprising speed and strength, Seto rolled Joey off of him and onto the ridiculous amount of floorboard space in front of the backseats. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber," Seto spoke holding Joey down with one hand while using the other to push a button, rolling up a window that blocked off the driver's view giving them all the privacy Seto would need. "Looks like I need to teach the puppy how to behave."

Joey struggled a bit at first, but Seto's grip on him was tight. Seto noticed Joey's face red with anger, and moved his head down lightly kissing his flushed cheek. The kisses soon moved from Joey's cheek to his neck, a small trail of kisses leading to Joey's collarbone. Seto sucked on Joey's neck, his tongue encompassing the light pink marks that were being made.

The car slowly came to a stop at the Kaiba manor; Seto got off of Joey, out of the car, and began to head in the house. Joey was still on the floor of the car for a few minutes; upset that Seto got him all worked up and left as if it was nothing. Then again, that's how Seto worked; he would always get the last say in everything.

* * *

After a nicely prepared dinner from the Kaiba staff and Mokuba forcing Seto and Joey to have a Heroes marathon with him, it was time for the blond to go home. As usual, Seto offered a ride, but Joey declined, opting to walk home instead. There was no mention nor though of the brief limo make out scene for either teen. A sporadic moment of temptation seems more normal than most would think.

"How was visiting the orphanage, Seto?" Mokuba asked with some interest, but there was a bit of spite in his voice. "Did you and Joey have a good time?"

"Yes, it went well," Seto simply stated. He wanted to say something along the lines of, 'you should come too. Without that place, we wouldn't be where we are today'. However, Seto knew better than that. Mokuba was old enough to make his own decisions. So he would never force the younger boy into doing what he didn't want. However, if this was Joey we were talking about, it would be a different story.

"Were you able to explain our past to Joey like you planned?" Mokuba asked seeming to care more about that than anything else at the moment.

"Yes, I did," Seto once again simply stated.

"Come on, Seto, This has to be a bigger deal to you than you are making it." Mokuba started to fidget a bit in the couch. "You just showed Joey a big part of a past, that most people don't know much about. Were you nervous or calmed by finally telling Joey the truth?"

"Mokuba, it was not a big deal. No different than anything else." Seto seemed to want to end the conversation. Their past was always an iffy subject, and Seto much preferred looking towards the future more than anything else.

"Did you ask Joey about his dad after you told him our past? I know he has been avoiding that topic with you."

"No, I didn't ask," Seto sighed and leaned back a bit in the chair.

"Brother, why are you being so hesitant to Joey about his relationship with his father?"

"Me? Hesitant?" Seto asked his voice rising a bit.

"I know Joey will open up more to you about his past, but it won't happen unless you actually show that you care and ask him." Mokuba was trying his best to remain calm with his elder brother. This was not a time for a sibling spat, but Mokuba really needed to get his point across, and the only way to get a point across to Seto was to be as direct as possible. "Stop beating around the bush, and show that you are truly interested in Joey's life, like I know you are. You are so direct in your dueling, work, with me. But when it comes to Joey, you become almost…hesitant. You two share a connection, with bad father's and a hard past. So because of that, you have become hesitant with asking Joey, because you can relate to the pains of those memories."

"Mokuba…" Seto started, wonder where all this was coming from. His brother never seemed to invest this much care as he now was in his relationships with other people. However, the way he was talking, being direct, cautious with his words, Seto knew that Mokuba wouldn't be saying any of this without reason.

"Seto, I know you don't realize how tentative you are being with this topic, but you are. Just be yourself. As direct and take charge as always. I'm sure that you will learn more about Joey's past and father, if you do that. Just think about it. For me." Mokuba stood up from the couch and made his way up to his bedroom, leaving the elder Kaiba alone to his thoughts.

_"Mokuba…"_ Seto sat in silence for a few moments. Pondering over different meaning to what his brother meant, and how to be direct with this situation as always.

"Mr. Kaiba, is Mr. Mokuba ok?" Roland asked coming from the kitchen. "He seemed a tad melancholy heading up to his room."

"Roland clear my afternoon for this weekend, I have some new business to attend to."

* * *

KD: Uh oh, sounds like Seto has something planned. What could it be? Stay tuned to find out. Thank you for the reviews. Please keep them up. ^_^


	31. Life Support

**Chapter Thirty-One: Life Support**

_Song Ideas: All about Me – Drowning Pool_

It was almost comical how out of place the limo was parked outside of a lower middle class apartment complex. Seto gazed out the window of the backseat while musing to himself. He had made certain to get off work early in order to make this special visit. "You're sure this is the place?" Seto asked his driver, Roland.

"Yes, sir. According to the records this is where Mr. Wheeler lives." He paused shortly, as if gathering up courage before asking, "Mr. Kaiba, is this really wise?"

"It's not like I'm breaking any laws," Seto replied before opening up the door and stepping out. He ordered Roland to wait in the car before going upstairs to the apartment Joey was supposed to reside in. _"I'm not breaking my promise,"_ he thought to himself. _"I don't plan on telling his father anything. But I have every right to meet with him." _

When he reached the door of the Wheeler residence he gave a firm knock and waited for someone to answer. He waited for several moments and tried knocking again. After waiting a full thirty seconds and still no answer, Seto tried the doorknob. It turned and the door opened. Seto almost took a step back when he got a whiff of the air inside; stuffy, warm, and saturated with alcohol. The interior was poorly lit with the shades of the windows drawn. He took a breath before stepping inside. Three steps in and he felt his foot make contact with an empty bottle lying on the floor. The living room was filthy, littered with paper, dirty dishes and empty containers. The furniture was worn and tearing, and the carpet had several stains. There was an old dial television that was playing some cop show. Sitting several feet across from it was an armchair. Snoozing in the armchair was a man, although Seto used that word very loosely in his mind.

The older man was not bad looking; Seto noticed that Joey did in fact look quite a bit like his father. They both had the same golden blonde mess of hair and a lean but muscular body. There was stubble on his face which made it obvious that the man had not shaven in a while. He looked like a man who might have been a punk back in his youth. In the man's left hand was a half empty beer bottle that looked like it would fall to the floor at any given second.

_"No wonder Wheeler didn't want me to meet his father,"_ Seto thought as he got closer to the old man, debating on whether to wake him or not. _"No one should have to live in an apartment like this." _

The beer bottle finally fell to the floor, crashing against the hard wood and causing the sleeping man to stir. "Joey, where are you?" the man shouted, his eyes still closed. It was clear to Seto that Joey's father was not only a bum, but a lazy bum at that.

"He is not here," Seto said in response to the man's yelling. The sight of this fueled him with anger such as he had never felt before. "And frankly, he should never have to come back here, you useless old man."

The older man's eyes finally opened. They were not the same shade of brown as Joey's but they were just as expressive. "Who the hell are you?" The voice was not the same sloshed sounding voice Seto had heard moments before but a serious tone of a man who was used to putting everything on the line with no regrets. It reminded Seto of Gozaburo, which just made matters worse.

"Who I am should be the least of your concerns," Seto said in disgust. While robbing Seto of his childhood, Gozaburo had pushed him to become better in everything he did and more. This man on the other hand had taken everything and left Joey to clean up his messes.

The sound of the door being thrown open and thudding footsteps alerted Seto, momentarily distracting him from the man in the chair. Joey stood white faced and furious. Seto could see even more clearly the resemblance standing in between the two males, but Joey's eyes were much clearer and more vibrant. His screamed with life whereas the old man almost seemed to have given up completely.

Seto half expected Joey to start spitting insults and accusation, or even force Seto to leave. Joey, however, seemed too beside himself to say anything, and Seto immediately saw why upon closer inspection. Amidst the anger there was hurt and, above all, shame. The silence might never have been broken had it not been for Joey's father.

"About time you got home, boy," he stated gruffly. "Now you can make yourself useful and toss this home wrecker out."

Joey, too shocked to be able to do anything about the current situation, just went straight to his room to clear his head. There was just too much going on for him to handle. Usual Joey felt that nothing could ever bring him down, however this was a completely different case. Seto was in his home, seeing his father, and too many of the pre imagined scenarios Joey had in the past about this day were going through his head. His friends were not here to cheer him on, heck; his friends still didn't know he was dating Kaiba. The truths he was trying so hard to keep enslaved was slowly making it way to the surface. The only positive right Joey could possibly see was that his father was not sober enough to put two and two together.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" his father shouted at him as he walked away, but there was no reply.

The front door swung open once again. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba," Roland said in standing in the doorway. "I tried to stop him."

Joey's dad now looked confused at this scene, not sure what to make of it. First, and unknown teenager makes his way through their door, followed by his silent son, and now a man that looked like a butler to him. He just wanted all two of these people out of his house for sure, and the third was slowly becoming an option in his mind.

"It's fine, Roland. Just go to Wheeler's room and help him pack," Seto said pointing up the small stair way that Joey went up. Roland nodded in agreement and disappeared from the living room.

"Pack? What do you mean pack?" Joey's dad asked finally analyzing the situation. Despite the large quantities of alcohol the man seemed to drink, he was quick at recovering from hangovers.

"Your son deserves better than this shit hole," Seto stated now that the older man was finally back to his senses. "He is coming with me." Seto's eyes narrowed as he looked down upon the man. _"Wheeler, doesn't deserve this life. I came here to better understand his life, but just by seeing his father I know now, that won't be the case."_

* * *

Up in Joey's room, the teen was sitting on his bed, his hands were wrapped up in his blond locks as he stared down at the flooring, when a knock came. "Mr. Wheeler, may I come in?" Roland asked through the door.

Joey got up and opened the door to let Roland in, but only because he had questions, and he knew Roland was the only one who could answer them. "What the hell is he doing here?" Joey asked angrily. "Who the hell does he think he is? Coming here after he promised…"

"With all due respect, Mr. Wheeler," Roland interjected. "Mr. Kaiba had no intentions of telling your father about your involvement with him, but you never did say the two were forbidden from meeting."

"I would have thought that was obvious," Joey fumed then thought, _"What do I have to do? Write out a detailed contract for the two of us to sign in blood?"_

"Well, while we're here, shall we start packing your things?" asked Roland. When Joey stared at him blankly, Roland explained. "Mr. Kaiba has asked me to help you pack. I have no doubts he intends to have you start living with him and Mr. Mokuba."

Joey was almost stunned at the incomparable gull Seto Kaiba possessed. He had not only barged into Joey's house uninvited but harassed his dad and now after all that expected Joey to live with him. The blonde teen sat back down on his bed like a defiant ten year old. "I'm not going. Why should I go anywhere with that guy? If he thinks he can run my life then, sorry pal, but that ain't flying."

"If I may, Mr. Wheeler," said Roland, unabashed by Joey's declaration. "While I don't claim to understand everything Mr. Kaiba is thinking, I believe he simply feels that this isn't the ideal environment to live in at this stage of your life. And quite frankly, I agree."

"I've lived in this sort of environment all my life. I can handle it," Joey stated. "Besides… if I leave, who's gonna look after the old man?"

"Mr. Wheeler, it is the job of the parents to look after the child, not the other way around. Shackling yourself to this place will get you nowhere. I'm not telling you to abandon your father completely, but you have your own future to think about." Roland gave a sharp bow. "I apologize if anything I said was out of line."

"It's fine," Joey said unsure what to do now. Roland did have a point, but Joey still had hope in his dad. "But I still don't think I should leave." Joey looked at Roland hoping he'd understand, but he knew this man would listen to Kaiba over him.

"I apologize, Mr. Wheeler, but Mr. Kaiba told me to help you pack, and that's what I am going to do." Roland went into Joey's closest and found a duffle bag and started folding up clothing and placing them neatly in the bag.

Joey finally stood up from his bed and took his posters down from his walls. His head hung low as he did it, showing a sign of defeat_. "I can't go…I shouldn't go. My dad needs me. At the same time. Roland is right. If I stay here with my dad…"_ Joey didn't want to finish the thought. _"I'll go, but this doesn't mean I'm giving up on my dad. I will pay off the rest of his debts, and maybe my leaving will help my dad find a job, gamble less…Kaiba, also isn't getting off of this easy. He's gonna tell me, why he did this in the first place. What was he thinking, when be decided to come here?" _Joey started to fill his mind with false hopes and a few ideas of the "conversation" he was going to have with Seto. He knew there was no way out of not leaving, unless he resorted to violence, so he was going to try to make the best out of his current situation.

The room was silent and Joey listened as hard as he could hoping to hear something from the living room, but Roland stopped him every time saying that it would be best to leave them be. After most of the essentials were packed Roland declared it was time to leave and they headed down the stairs only to see the CEO and older man were in the same deadlock they had been when Joey left.

The living room was thick with tension making it hard for Joey to breathe. Roland left the apartment with Joey's bags in hand to take them to the car.

Joey's dad's eyes soon moved from the blues of the CEO to his son's. "If you leave, boy, don't you ever come back." He took a swig from a fresh can of beer waiting for Joey's response.

"Be safe, dad," Joey said as he headed out the door. He still didn't want to leave even now. His dad needed him, and Joey wanted to do everything he could to save his dad. To go back to the old days when he was a kid.

Joey and Seto left the apartment in silence, but Joey was ready to interrogate Seto as soon as they got in the car. "What was that about, Kaiba?" Joey demanded, wanting answers from the source himself. "What gave you the right to interrogate my old man like that?"

Seto looked back at Joey, "A life support."

"Huh?" Joey was confused as to what Seto was getting at.

"Your father called you his life support. He has no right to be a parent if that's all you are to him."

"He is my family and family should always stay together! You and Mokuba know that better than anyone."

"There's a difference," Seto declared. "Your father was using you so he could live his inert life style..."

Joey was quick to interrupt. "Don't bad mouth my dad. It was my choice! He was not using me."

Seto closed his eyes and shook his head. That blind loyalty that made his pup so endearing was truly a double edged sword. Both teens sat in silence for the rest of the car ride, knowing the other would not change his mind on the current situation.

* * *

KD: Wow, Seto really cares about his puppy. Enough to even adopt him! =^_^= So how will Joey adapt to this new lifestyle? And will he be able to forgive Seto for this? Stay tuned to find out!


	32. For Now

KD: At long last, the final chapter! We debated on whether to split this last one up into two, but in the end decided to just keep it as one big chapter. So enjoy!

**Chapter Thirty-Two: For Now**

_Song for chapter: _

_Dirty Little Thing- Adelitas Way _

Joey sighed while he walked up the stairs of the Kaiba mansion; this was not part of his plan. He wanted to live on his own, be closer to his sister, not living in the Kaiba manor. This was a chance for him and Seto to grow more as a couple but at the same time it would test to see how much he could stand being around the guy without them breaking out into an argument. So far, this move in was starting off with fights. After the intense quarrel in the car, Joey truly wanted nothing to do with the CEO. He was pretty much forced to move out of his house, his entire life was ripped away from him with no remorse from the "loving boyfriend." This made Joey even more angry at Seto than he was before, it seemed as if he didn't care about Joey's opinions and feelings on the matter; only his own.

A few of the maids and Roland helped Joey bring his stuff up to his room no matter how much he protested. He didn't want to be spoiled, by the lifestyle Seto had, even if the workers were paid to do the work. The room was about the same size as his old apartment. There was a full sized bed in the left corner by the window, a walk in closet, a desk and a cabinet all of which were made of a crisp red cherry tree.

All of his duffel bags were brought into the room, he didn't have that much stuff to begin with, a few pairs of clothing, his school uniform, cards, several photos of his friends, and a few posters with Duel Monsters on it.

Joey had more room than what he knew to do with, as he tried to figure out where to put his stuff, he heard a soft knock on the door, and he didn't respond to it. He was fuming didn't want to be bothered at all and end up saying something he might regret.

"Joey?" Mokuba asked knocking on the locked door once more. "Joey it's me Mokuba. I noticed you and Seto were both not in the best of moods walking up to the house so I wanted to check up on you."

Joey stayed quiet, but he knew he couldn't be mad at the kid, it wasn't his fault, it was all on Seto. Joey walked to the door and unlocked it. "Hey Mokuba. You can come on in." Joey closed and locked the door behind him after Mokuba stepped into the room. Mokuba was quiet at first he was not sure what to or not say to Joey. "Mokuba you can talk to me, I'm not mad at you…" Joey began to trail off.

"So you are mad at Seto. What happened? I thought you would be relieved to be living with us." Mokuba said quietly with a bit of sorrow in his voice.

Joey sighed heavily, "it's not that I'm not happy to be living with you guys. It's just your brother cares more about his opinions on my life than my own. And I'm not mad at him. Just not thrilled with what he did and how he did it."

"What do you mean by that?" Mokuba questioned, not knowing what his older brother did.

"Well, I was happy living with my dad. I know he ain't father of the year, and I did all the work to support me and his habits. But I was happy there, and it was my home. And Kaiba entering my home unannounced, lecturing my dad, then having Roland force me out of my own house to come here…" Joey stopped, he really didn't want to say anything to make Mokuba mad at his brother. "It's just I wish Kaiba would listen to my opinions and let me make my own choices."

Mokuba interrupted Joey, "But Seto only had your best interest in mind. I know he was being tactless about it, but he really does care. It just doesn't come off that way…" Mokuba got quiet. "I'm sorry Joey. I understand where you're coming from, but why don't you look at this from Seto's point of view." Mokuba looked down at the floor, not wanting to see his friend's reaction to his opinion. "If I was Seto, I would have done the same thing too. I probably would not have forced you against your will to come, but I would have tried to get you out of there. Seto and I never had a great father figure either, but we turned out ok being on our own. Plus we have Roland looking after us. But doing everything on your own Joey. It's too much for you. I know this isn't what you wanna hear, but it's my two cents." Mokuba held back saying, that Seto might have not done it at all, had he not told his elder brother several days ago, he was being hesitant towards getting the truth out of Joey's family relations with his father. When Mokuba said that, he didn't expect his brother to jump to this extreme, but the younger Kaiba, was doing his best to be a fence sitter in this situation since there was no turning back now.

Joey rubbed the top of Mokuba's head, "Yah, Roland said something similar to me too. But I still don't agree with the methods your brother took. It was not respectful to me at all, and that's not something I can easily forgive right now. He needs to learn how to respect my opinions instead of me just following along with him. He's just too used to always being in charge."

"Ya he is, Seto likes being in control of his own future, and now that you are part of it, he only wants what he thinks is best for you." Mokuba got off Joey's bed. "Well I'll let you be then and finish unpacking. If you need anything just call for me." Mokuba left the room leaving Joey alone again.

A few hours passed and Joey got his room in order for the most part he sighed and laid on his bed staring at the ceiling. There was another knock on his door, and he knew it was not the light knock of Mokuba, but a harsh knock, which meant it was only one person, Seto. Joey was still mad at him, and unless it was an apology, he didn't want to hear it.

Seto knocked again, "If you don't open this door Joseph, I'll use the key and unlock it myself." Joey didn't reply to Seto's threat, "Listen Wheeler I want to…want to….want to talk." Seto stammered out. Joey knew how hard it was for Seto to say that, so he unlocked the door to let the angry brunette in.

"What do you want Kaiba?" Joey said as he opened the door. Seto grabbed Joey by the wrist, and dragged him out of his room. "What the hell?" Joey said pulling away, "You said you want to talk."

"I do Wheeler. We are going to talk in my room." Seto said harshly.

"And what's wrong with talking in my room?" Joey asked him turning around to head the other direction.

"Let's just go to my room to talk. It's more private." Seto said opening the door to his room.

Joey walked in with a huff, "See Kaiba, it's always your way." Joey said as Seto closed the door behind him.

"What's wrong with having things my way mutt?" Seto said staring down at the cold brown eyes that were usually so warm.

"Because you don't respect my opinions. It's always your way, and my feelings don't matter." Joey huffed back at the steely glare.

"My way is always right though. You needed out of that house…"

"It's not just about the house Kaiba, it's the trip to the festival, the parties…"Joey paused for a few moments not wanting to make it seem like he never had a good time doing those things, "It's not that I didn't enjoy going to them, but you just expected me to go without consulting me to see if I wanted to or have time." Seto didn't have anything to say to that which surprised Joey, both of them were stubborn, but Seto took the prize for being the worst usually. "What Kaiba got nothing to say back to me now?"

Seto just leaned into Joey and harshly kissed him. _"What the hell?"_ Joey thought, but all his anger was soon turning into a heated sexual desire, as Seto's tongue started to play with his own. "Kaiba…" Joey started, he was still mad at him, but all of the anger was converting into a sexual tension that he never felt before, and he needed to get it out no matter what. Joey returned the kiss but with different type of passion to it. Their tongues were in a battle with one another making the kiss even more intense. Seto harshly pushed Joey down, back first on the bed, hovering over him, the kissing started again, but his lips soon moved to Joey's ear, delicately licking up and down the cartilage making Joey's body shiver and harshly biting the cartilage as if it were punishment for fighting back. Seto's hands moved up and down the side of Joey's body, his skin was smooth and warm against the touch of Seto's chilled hands.

Joey slapped away Seto's hand, he didn't want any of Seto's sexual fantasy fulfilled tonight. Joey wanted all of his desires, even if he had to fight Seto for them. Seto tried to put his hands under Joey's shirt away to take off the white fabric, but Joey swatted him away again. "NO Kaiba. If you want me you have to work harder than that. I'm not bending to your every will." Joey then grabbed Seto's shirt, and used all his strength to rip it off, causing the buttons to be torn off the shirt and fall onto the bed. Joey pulled Seto back towards him and began kissing him again, his hand rubbing up and down Seto's smooth back. Seto once again tried to take off Joey's shirt, but was denied by his resilient puppy. Joey's hands moved from Seto's back, to his chest, and he began to massage Seto's nipples and then pinched them tightly.

Joey thought the harsh touches would give Seto the message, but instead it turned Seto on even more, and Joey could see Seto's pants get tighter, causing the brunette to get more aggressive in his love making. Seto kissed Joey back and then forced the white shirt off the blond, "I don't care much for resilient mutts like this." Seto said before forcing his tongue back into Joey's mouth, and returning Joey the favor and massaging his nipples, and then squeezing them even harder than Joey did to him. Seto's mouth soon moved down to them, and began to softly lick them. Joey got even harder with the light touches of Seto, and knew that Seto was getting his revenge, and it would not be fun. Seto soon bit down on the light pink knobs, but not hard enough to draw blood. While nipping them, Seto's hand moved to Joey's crotch, "you must feel really tight now. If you were not being a bad dog, I would let all that pressure be relieved." He rubbed over Joey's pants even harder, "But bad dogs get punished by their masters." Seto grabbed harshly, then continued to suck and nibble at Joey. Joey wanted to fight back so hard, which made him even more mad at the brunette.

Joey tried to move his hands towards Seto's pants to take them off, but his hands were slapped away. Seto then used one of his hands and hold down Joey's above his head. He leaned in and began to kiss Joey's neck. "God you are such an ass right now," Joey said, and his pressure continued to build up within him making him want it even more. Both men were hot with pleasure, but Joey was showing it the most. The protuberance in his pants getting tighter and tighter with every tease Seto was giving him. "Take off my pants." Joey demanded. There was no question in his voice. Joey wanted to regain control in this, but knew with how annoyed Seto was that would not be an easy feat.

Seto lifted up his head and smirked, but moved back to Joey's nipples and began to fondle them. "I said take my pants off, Kaiba." Joey demanded once again; wanting to be free of them.

"Why should I reward my naughty mutt with such desires?" Seto asked harshly in Joey's ear and then started nibbling on it again. Joey finally got his hands free and quickly pulled down Kaiba's pants part of the way down. Much to his surprise and could feel Seto's protrusion against his body. "You really want it. Don't you?" Kaiba said pulling his pants off the rest of the way, "But you still have not given me a reason to give you such a reward?"

Joey's face was flushed with anger, and he began to zip his own pants down. He took out his manhood and began to rub it up and down himself. "If you don't please me Kaiba, I'll just have to do it myself then." Seto looked down and saw Joey pleasing himself which tempted the CEO very much.

Seto soon made fast for Joey's pants and took them off along with the boxers. Seto grabbed Joey's scrotum in his hands the very second the boxers were off. Joey let out a loud moan of pleasure. Seto turned around so his butt was facing Joey and began to lick the scrotum. Joey loved the coolness of Seto's tongue against his warm pouch.

However Joey soon realized that Seto's bottom was right in his face, he licked his index finger a few times, making it nice and lubricated and stuck it within Seto without a moments thought to how agonizing it could be for his lover. He thought he actually heard Seto moan in both pain and pleasure, so Joey continued moving in and out and in circles loosening it up. After he was sure Seto was loose enough, Joey stuck two fingers in, moving them around slowly not wanted to bring any pain to his partner this time. Joey was shocked when the CEO was just hunched over taking it, Joey was no longer receiving any pleasure, but was giving it to Seto. Joey could see Seto's manhood dangling as he was hunched over, it was thick and hard. Joey wanted to suck it so badly, but continued with the fingering making Seto nice and loose.

However Joey stopped as soon as he felt Seto's mouth on top of his. "No…fair….Kaiba…I wanna…too" Joey stammered between moans. Kaiba lowered his body and Joey immediately placed the brunette's warmth in his mouth as well. The two went up and down, as if it was a contest, trying to suck and please the other more. When Joey was about to reach his pinnacle, Seto stopped and forced himself out of Joey's mouth, taunting him.

"You didn't think I was going to let it end so soon, did you? You are still on a tight leash."

"I think you can be a bigger ass in bed then you are in the office" Joey grumbled as he pushed Seto down and kissed him hard, he didn't want to forgive his lover for pulling out when they were both so close, but it made the passion of the kiss even more intensified.

"Stand over me Wheeler." Seto commanded, and Joey listened, Seto moved Joey's hand over his own (Joey's) warmth and had him masturbate himself again, but this time over Seto mouth. Joey moved his hand faster and faster down his shaft, the pressure was once again at its pinnacle and he had to let it free. He's juices streamed into Seto's open mouth the white sweetness was welcomed greedily by Seto, consuming it all. Joey's body felt light now, but Seto was not done yet. He grabbed some lube from his nightstand and rubbed it all over his warmth and Joey knew what was coming. Joey bent over the bed knowing what to do. Seto stuck a few fingers inside the blond to make sure he was loose enough. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain to his lover, but enough pain to show that he was not off the hook. Seto then stuck his warmth inside Joey, rocking back and forth going a little harder with every thrust. Joey was panting and moaning from the pleasure, but having to hold back a few yelps each time Seto thrusted in harder and deeper. After a few quick thrusts of going in a deep as possible, Seto came inside his lover, all the pressure relieved. Joey collapsed on the bed, but quickly moved his entire body on top of it. Seto laid down next to him, not nearly as tired, "I'm sorry about earlier." He said quietly enough for Joey to barely hear him over his heavy breathing.

After the heated hate, make up sex, Joey finally took a chance to look around Seto's room as a breather. It was simplistic light blue room with no decorations on the walls. However, one of the walls was almost completely gone, being a large window with thick blue curtains that were the same shade of blue as the walls. The king sized bed in a few feet away from the window that was enveloped in black and silver sheets. The wood floor had rug in the middle of the floor, a blue a few shades darker than the walls. There was a small night stand next to the bed that had an alarm clock, and two framed photos beside the lubricant. One was a picture of Seto and Mokuba when they were kids at the orphanage and the other one of the two of them. Joey remembered when they took that picture. Joey wanted to test out his new camera and he put it in front of them, and just took one. Seto looked slightly annoyed and he had a cheesy grin on his face. _"He actually framed it." _Joey thought to himself looking at the photo a smile on his face.

"I guess I can forgive you…for now" Joey whispered back.

Joey wasn't sure where this relationship was going to take them, how far it would go, and if it would even last. For now, he figured he might as well enjoy it now and worry about the future later.

* * *

Beginning of senior year

"I thought I told you never to bother me at school." Bakura said to Malik. The two teens were on the roof of the school, during lunch break. Malik snuck into the school as usual to see his fluffy.

"But I brought a note." Malik said in protest, "It's for Joey. Can you give it to him for me?" Malik held out the carefully folded note, and Bakura snatched it out of his hands, not amused by the teen in front of him. "Now don't go reading it." Malik said as Bakura began walking away from him.

Bakura looked down at the note and debate whether he should even bother giving it to Joey or not. "I'll just have my vessel do it." Bakura soon vanished into Ryou as he walked down the stairwell from the roof. Ryou was now in control again and saw the letter in his hands, he looked down at it and in big red words it said 'To: Joey.'

Ryou looked at the paper confused, "I say what's this." Bakura never did explain the point of the note to him. "I guess I should just give it to Joey then." The young Brit headed to the classroom and saw the usual gang eating lunch together while playing a children's card game. It looks like Yugi was dueling against Tristan who was obviously loosing. Joey was standing over his buds, enjoying the match.

"Joey might I have a word?" Ryou asked as he approached the blond.

"Ya sure. What's up?" Joey followed Ryou into the quiet hallway.

"This letter is for you." Ryou held out the bright white paper with Joey's name on it. "Not sure who it's from mate. Sorry."

Joey had a strong inkling who it was from, after all who else would have Ryou give Joey a letter. "It's no problem. Thanks." Joey opened the letter and he only saw a brief statement on it.

_Meet me at the coffee shop we first met at after school today. _

There was no signature on it, but Joey was even more certain now who that letter was from.

* * *

"Joey I'm so glad you made it." Malik said getting out of the chair he was in. After school, Joey headed to the only coffee shop he ever met anybody at knowing in his mind who the letter was from. His hunch of it being Malik all along was right.

"Well what did you want to meet here for?" Joey asked as he sat down across the Egyptian teenager. Who was soon back to drinking his iced mocha with two pumps of caramel, one pump mint, and double whipped cream with both chocolate and caramel sauce on it.

"Oh I just wanted to talk." Malik said after he was done with his sip. "After all I do get bored being home all alone while you and Bakura are at school. And Bakura is not much for talk after school. So I thought it would be fun if you and I had a talk together." Malik went back to his drink and Joey began to gather his thoughts.

"Well is there anything specific you wanna talk bout? Joey asked, not sure what kind of conversation to have with the guy. They had only met a few times, so Joey didn't know what points of interest to bring up with him.

"Well, how are things going between you and Seto?" Malik asked casually.

"Better than before, I guess," Joey said with a shrug.

"Bakura tells me that you two are living together," Malik said looking positively giddy.

"Yeah… about that, please don't tell anyone," Joey said after glancing around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "I'm not an expert on this kind of stuff, but I don't want to make things any more complicated."

"I understand," Malik said with a nod. "Don't worry, I won't tell another soul. After all, Bakura and I have kept our relationship a secret for this long."

"Just out of curiosity… how did you and Bakura end up living together?" Joey asked curiously.

Malik got a daydreaming look in his eyes, "well it all started when I got to fulfill my dream of riding a motorcycle for the first time. Ever since I was a boy I always thought that riding on a motorcycle would be cool…" Joey saw that Malik started to enter a daydream of the past, but he soon snapped out of it. "It was my first day riding in Domino City and I really didn't know where I was going. I was flying by, and a guy with white hair walked in front of me, I was going so fast so I couldn't stop, so I swerved off to the side, almost hitting him. As I flew past him, I saw that his beauty would complement mine. He was almost going to keep walking, not even checking to see if I was alright after I crashed. But as soon as a crashed I stood right up and headed straight towards him." Malik sighed, the image of that day fresh as rain in his mind. "I went straight up to him before he could escape me and I introduced myself. He introduced himself to me and continued on his way. I ended up following him home because I didn't have anywhere to go, especially since my bike was broken. And I have been living with him ever since."

Joey was confused by this story on so many levels, Bakura was not the type to just accept Malik with open arms, and there seemed to be a few plot holes in his story, but Joey knew he should just accept it and move on. If he ever wanted to know more, he knew Bakura would be a more reliable source than Malik any day.

They talked for a couple hours longer and it turned out that Malik was also a fan of video games which he had recently gotten into after seeing one displayed in a store window. They also talked about music and things they were good at. Malik was for some reason particularly interested in Joey's talents with a yo-yo. The topic both avoided was their precious home lives.

As the sun started to go down, Joey decided it was best if he returned home. "Well, it was great seeing ya again, Malik," Joey said extending his hand.

"The pleasure's all mine," Malik said. "Before you go, I wanted to ask you a favor. I think it would help us both out."

"Yeah? What's that?" Joey asked.

"What do you say we go on a double date?" Malik suggested.

"…Eh?"

THE END...NOT!

* * *

Jael: Don't you just love cliff hanger endings? Cause I know I do. Well I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as much as KD and I had writing it. ^-^

KD: That's right, there's a second part to this epic love story. So stay tuned and keep on the lookout, because this story is...

TO BE CONTINUED

**Next time… in the upcoming sequel… **

Joey: I'd never tell him this but… I don't want anything to ruin this, what we have.

Seto: Pack your things mutt, we're going to Vegas.

Duke: I should have guessed it when I saw you at that Halloween party.

Tristan: I don't even know what to think, man.

Bakura: I liked you better when you were evil.

Malik: NO…he's come back.

Mokuba: Where are you going, Joey?

Roland: Give him time, Mr. Kaiba. Just give him time.

Zigfried: By the time I'm through with Herr Kaiba, he vill never be able to show his face in public ever again!


End file.
